A former postal worker has pleaded guilty in federal court to accusations he stole more than $250,000 when he issued himself fraudulent money orders while working at post offices in Hartford and West Hartford.
Miguel Cruz Quiles, 34, of East Hartford appeared Wednesday in federal court in Bridgeport where he waived his right to be indicted and admitted that he cashed or deposited at least $250,320 in government funds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut. He pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property.
Federal officials said had been employed in a number of different positions at the U.S. Postal Service since 2012, including as a window clerk providing customer service and as a human resources safety clerk. In 2024, officials allege Cruz Quiles issued himself more than 250 fraudulent money orders from the service counters at the Blue Hills Post Office in Hartford and the Bishops Corner Post Office in West Hartford.
According to authorities, most of the fraudulent money orders were issued in amounts of $1,000. To conceal the fraud, Cruz Quiles used the credentials of another employee to access the postal service’s computer system at the service counter and fraudulently coded the transactions, federal officials said.
Some of the transactions were found to have occurred when the service counter was not open to the public. Officials said Cruz Quiles would cash the money orders or deposit them into his own bank accounts.
Investigators allegedly found that in one day in December 2024, Cruz Quiles issued to himself 30 fraudulent money orders for $1,000 each.
Cruz Quiles is currently free on a $50,000 bond pending sentencing, which has been scheduled for April 15. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.