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Former Henrico postal clerk arrested for stealing money orders

Posted at 11:53 PM, May 21, 2015
and last updated 2015-05-21 23:53:53-04

HENRICO COUNTY, Va.  -- Lisa Johnson said that buying money orders at her local post office in Henrico was just an unassuming task.

"I never really gave it a second thought, it just seemed like an okay system," she said.

Now that she has heard about a former postal clerk arrested for stealing money orders over the course of several months, she has a different outlook.

"It's just unfortunate, it would make me give a second thought about making purchases," she said.

According to court documents, Brandon Dandridge faces mail theft charges after several money orders from customers never made it to their destination.

In some of the cases, the customer filed a complaint with the post office, only to find out the money orders had already been cashed.

"I think it's ridiculous because someone who has worked for the federal government, you will be caught," said one post office customer.

In an effort to confirm that Dandridge was stealing the money orders from customers, an undercover agent visited the Lakeside Post Office Branch and bought two money orders from him.

Authorities discovered that a signature was forged on the back of one of the money orders and redeemed by another postal clerk.

That other clerk was Shelita Cobb, who worked at the Westhampton Post Office.

Court documents allege that Cobb was a co-conspirator in the scheme.

A manager at the Lakeside Post Office could not comment on the charges, but said that Dandridge no longer worked at the post office.