Guilty of fraud in a $875,000 bribery plot involving a maintenance provider is admitted by the Connecticut postmaster

A former postal worker from Connecticut has acknowledged defrauding the USPS of around $875,000 in a scheme that included demands for free personal vehicle repairs, abuse of USPS credit cards, and cash bribes.

Ephrem D. Nguyen, the longtime postmaster of Danbury, a city in western Connecticut with a population of over 86,700, entered a guilty plea on Friday to the felony of honest services wire fraud, which carries a potential 20-year prison sentence. On Monday, he entered a guilty plea in the case, which is still pending investigation.

In response, his federal public defender remained silent about the matter.

Since taking over as postmaster in 2003, Nguyen has been in charge of overseeing the upkeep and repairs of all machinery, buildings, and cars. According to federal prosecutors, he mandated in November 2020 that a specific vendor complete the job, even though another vendor was already under contract with the post office in Danbury. Nguyen then insisted that the new vendor fix his car, one of his children’s cars, a USPS employee’s car, and an employee of his own company for free.

Prosecutors claimed that in 2022, Nguyen asked for and accepted a $30,000 bribe from the same vendor, promising to make sure the USPS compensated for the work by using credit cards linked to the Danbury Post Office. Later that year, he asked the same vendor for and accepted a $60,000 bribe under the same terms.

Prosecutors claim that Nguyen paid the new vendor over $1 million between around January 2022 and February 2023 using USPS credit cards. This amount amounted to about $760,000 more than what was required to cover proper maintenance and repair work. According to the prosecution, Nguyen also stole more than $80,000 by renting cars for himself and other people’s personal use with his USPS credit cards. Additionally, he authorized over $8,000 in false claims for a coworker’s trip reimbursement.

Nguyen was released on a $100,000 bond; he was formerly of Brookfield, Conn., and currently resides in Quincy, Mass. The date of his sentencing is set for January 5, 2024.