LI mail carrier accused of stealing coupons

A U.S. mail carrier who police said stole thousands of department store coupons intended for residential mailboxes and sold them on eBay was arraigned and held on bail Friday.

Thomas Tang, 38, of Wesley Street in Baldwin, was being held on $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond after he pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree grand larceny before Judge David W. McAndrews in First District Court in Hempstead.

Tang is due back in court Wednesday.

Nassau County police detectives said Tang removed more than 7,000 J.C. Penney Co. coupons from the mail between Oct. 13, 2009, and Jan. 5, 2011, and offered them for sale on eBay, the online auction and shopping website.

Investigators are looking into whether he stole and sold coupons from other stores, including Lowe's, Kohl's and Bed Bath & Beyond.

"He was taking these coupons out of the mail and selling them on eBay in packets of, maybe, 10 for a substantial discount," said Det. Vincent Garcia, a spokesman for the Nassau County Police Department.

"People would bid on them and they weren't close to the actual price that J.C. Penney's would lose on each coupon . . . If he was stealing these, then any amount of money he was selling them for was a profit for him."

Garcia said police were notified by the Garden City postal inspector and J.C. Penney's loss prevention officials.

Tang was represented at the arraignment by Robert Parker of Manhattan, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

A Long Island postal service spokeswoman, Krista Riemma, said Tang worked out of the Corona, Queens, facility and has been employed by the postal service since 1994.

The case is also being investigated by the postal service's Office of Inspector General, said Rafael Medina, a Manhattan-based deputy special agent in charge.

He added that the probe would explore whether others were involved in the alleged crime.

"We will basically prepare a report of investigation to provide to the postal service," Medina said, declining to elaborate.