WINSLOW — A man who worked as a letter carrier at a Camden County post office has admitted to stealing more than 100 U.S. Postal Service money orders and using them to make almost $100,000.

Meanwhile, a 50-year-old mail carrier from Union City was arrested and charged with forgery and stealing checks along his route.

Marc Saunders, 39, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to transmitting and presenting unlawfully issued USPS money orders with intent to defraud the United States.

Acting U.S. Attorney William E. Fitzpatrick said Saunders admitted to stealing a money order machine and more than 100 money orders while he was working at the New Lisbon post office in Pemberton. He then used the machine to fill out the orders, which he then gave to other people he recruited to cash in the orders "for a small fee." After paying out the fee, Fitzpatrick said Saunders pocketed the money.

Saunders faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March.

Elsewhere in the state, Hector O. Tejada, 50, stole at least nine checks amounting to more than $8,000, Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said.

Grewal said the Allendale Police Department was alerted in September that a state issued check had been stolen. The prosecutor said after a joint investigation it was determined that Tejada had stolen the check and deposited it in his personal bank account.

Tejada would forge the names of the people the checks were intended for and then deposit them in his account using ATM machines, cell phones, and electronic deposit, prosecutors said.

Tejada has been charged with one count of third-degree theft by deception and one count of third-degree forgery. Grewal said the investigation is ongoing and encouraged anyone with information about Tejada to contact the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office at 201-226-5532 or the United States Postal Service Office of the Inspector General at 888-877-7644.

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com

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