Man charged with fraud after changing the address of UPS headquarters to his own home

A man in the US has been charged over a scam in which he changed the corporate address of the global shipping company UPS to his own home in Chicago, rerouting thousands of items of post.

Dushaun Henderson-Spruce submitted a US Postal Service change of address form on 26 October 2017, according to court documents. He requested changing a corporation's mailing address from an address in Atlanta to the address of his apartment.

The post office duly updated the address, and Henderson-Spruce allegedly began receiving the company's mail - including cheques. It went on for months. Prosecutors say he deposited some $58,000 (£43,000) in cheques improperly forwarded to his address.

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The court documents do not name the corporation but the Chicago Tribune reported that it was multinational shipping firm.

The alleged scam “saw items including American Express cards in the name of the chief executive and other board members being delivered to his address in Rogers Park,” says The Guardian.

According to the Tribune, so much post “was arriving at his seven-storey building that the carrier had to leave it in a US postal service tub because there was no room in the mail box.”

The Tribune reported that Henderson-Spruce did not have to give any proof of his identity in order to carry out the scheme. The initials “HS” were written on the signature line, but were then scratched out and replaced with “UPS”, according to the charges.

The company said it didn’t notice the issue until January; which was when UPS contacted US postal inspectors and asked them to investigate.

When Chicago local media contacted Henderson-Spruce in April he admitted he was getting mail from UPS but said his identity might have been stolen.

Henderson-Spruce has been charged with mail theft and fraud.