Residents of Eastpointe and Rochester Hills are among four people accused by federal authorities of operating a $63-million scheme to steal checks from people’s mail and sell them.

Jaiswan Williams, 31, of Rochester Hills; Dequan Foreman, 30, of Eastpointe; Vanessa Hargrove, 39, of Detroit; and Crystal Jenkins, 31, of Detroit, have been charged with conspiracy to aid and abet bank and wire fraud, U.S. Attorney Jerome F. Gorgon announced Friday.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.

Hargrove and Jenkins were Postal Service employees who “diverted and ultimately stole checks and other negotiable instruments from the mail, including a high volume of tax refund checks issued by the U.S. Treasury,” officials said in a news release. Williams and Foreman administered online marketplaces on which they sold the checks, officials said.

“When public employees break the public trust, they enrich themselves at the expense of the American taxpayer and undermine the institution itself,” Gorgon said in the release. “We will find and prosecute those who exploit their position for personal gain. We are committed to disrupting these shadowy schemes.”

According to allegations submitted by federal investigators, Hargrove and Jenkins sold the stolen checks to Williams and Foreman, who marketed them for sale on Telegram Messenger, a cloud-based, cross-platform instant messaging application. Prices varied based on the face-value of the checks. One of the Telegram channels, named “Whole Foods Slipsss,” was used to advertise high-dollar checks while another channel, “Uber Eats Slips,” was used to advertise lower-dollar checks. “Slips” is a term commonly used in these schemes to refer to stolen checks.

Transactions were completed via other methods using a variety of electronic payment systems. Purchasers of these checks would then attempt to fraudulently cash them using a variety of methods.

According to a report in Reuters news service and other media outlets Thursday, Vietnam authorities have instructed telecommunication service providers to block Telegram for not cooperating in combating alleged crimes committed by its users. Unrelated to the alleged stolen-check scheme, 55 men were arrested in France this week as part of an operation to dismantle a suspected pedophile ring that allegedly operated over Telegram, following a 10-month investigation, according to multiple media reports. Telegram was founded in 2013 by two Russian brothers and is headquarted in Dubai, United Emerites.

Regarding the charges against the foursome, Sean McStravick, acting inspector in charge of the Postal Inspection Service’s Detroit Division, thanked investigative partners for helping to “maintain the integrity and respectability of the U.S. Postal Service.”

“The charges against these four individuals underscore the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s commitment to securing the nation’s mail system from those who seek to exploit it for personal and financial gain,” McStravick added in the release. “Postal Inspectors utilize every tool at their disposal, including crucial partnerships, to uncover, investigate, and prosecute these schemes to the fullest extent of the law.”

Williams also faces charges on allegations of money laundering for activities dating back to October 2022, and for millions of dollars of fraudulent COVID-19 pandemic unemployment insurance benefit claims submitted between August and December 2020.

The investigation was led by the  U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General with assistant from the Postal Inspection Service, participating investigative agencies included the  Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General.

The case is being prosecuted by assistant U.S. attorneys Ryan A. Particka and Darrin Crawford.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told business leaders Monday the private sector needs to be part of the solution to increase funding for local roads.

Whitmer made the pitch at the annual Governor’s Luncheon staged by the Macomb County Chamber, held this year at The Palazzo Grande in Shelby Township, attended by about 430 people, including a plethora of Macomb County politicians and business leaders.

While Whitmer noted the celebratory mood in the county over securing a new fighter-jet mission at Selfridge Air National Guard Base last week, she brought up a renewed focus in the state to increase funding for local roads now that most of the $3.5 billion Rebuilding Michigan Plan for state highways and bridges has been completed.

“As we celebrate the big win of last week, the lesson that’s sticking with me is one that everyone in this room knows very well in Macomb County: The best way to get things done is by doing them together,” she said. “From local government officials to business leaders, the willingness to work across the aisle and across sectors has played a key role in making Macomb County an economic powerhouse.”

Business owners must up their ante and contribute more to fix the roads “that we all drive on every day,” she said.

“We can’t put all this on the backs of hard-working Michiganders,” she said. “Businesses also benefit from strong, reliable roads. And we all need to be part of the solution. It’s a simple equation: Fewer potholes means fewer delays, means safer roads, means more predictability and certainty in a world that feels very uncertain in many ways.”

Business owners and operators must set an example in supporting more road funding because they serve as role models in the community, the govenror said. People view them as “no-nonsense folks who have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the community,” she said. “As a swing county, you helped define the direction of our state. You elected me twice as governor, but I need your help once again.

“We can’t afford to risk losing all of the progress we have made here in Macomb. If we compromise, I’m confident we can deliver a strong roads deal and keep winning key manufacturing investments.

A road plan will have to include spending cuts along with “new, fairer sources of revenue,” she said.

“We’ve got to be able to do both,” she added.

In comments after her talk, she said she hopes a new road-funding plan will be passed this year as part of the 2026 budget, hopefully by the end of June.

Also in comments to the media, the governor expressed grave concerns about the potential impact of Medicaid cuts by the Republican-controlled Congress after she was asked whether she supports reviving tax credits to the movie industry. The credits, approved under former Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm, were nixed during the tenure of GOP governor Rick Snyder.

She said when she was a lawmaker she “always supported” credits to the film industry to encourage filmmakers to produce their creations here, but said the timing isn’t right. The possibility of “major cuts” in Medicaid that would close some hospitals “will make it a lot harder to justify any additional spending with the Legislature.

“I’m just being very pragmatic about that,” she said.

Democratic governor called on GOP U.S. Rep. John James, who represents most of the county, to vote against Medicaid cuts, noting the amount of Medicaid spending here represents 40% of the state budget.

“I’m hopeful that congressman James, who is running for my job, understands that that’s 40% of the state budget, devastating the state of Michigan,” she said. “So I’m hoping that he will vote no and I’m hoping a handful of other Republican congress people will as well because it will be absolutely devastating.

“We can’t afford to offset 40% of our budget. That will mean hospitals will close in Michigan, if all of that comes to fruition. There are hospitals that have 70% of their patients (on) Medicaid. They could not survive that. That is a very real possibility.”

James, who represents the 10th District, has announced he is running for governor to succeed the term-limited Whitmer.

James responded with a written statement: “Republicans are working with President Trump to protect Social Security and Medicaid from insolvency to ensure those who’ve rightfully paid into their benefits and our most vulnerable can access these essential programs. Meanwhile, Democrats continue to sow fear and mass hysteria and confusion to hide from the fact that they’ve spent years burdening a system that will allow for its collapse. My first bill in Congress sought to protect these vital benefits. Republicans WILL ALWAYS protect Social Security and Medicaid.”

Last month, Whitmer signed an executive order directing the state Department of Health and Human Services to study and report on “potential scenarios related to the impact” of Medicaid cuts.

Some 2.6 million people in Michigan are enrolled in Medicaid following its 2014 expansion, including one million children, 300,000 people living with disabilities and 168,000 senior citizens, according to the state.

Also while speaking to reporters, Whitmer addressed criticism she received for meeting with the divisive Republican president particulary in the Oval Office when she covered her face during a surprise press conference on actions she opposed, something she said she regrets doing. In addition to arguing for Selfridge’s additional mission, she lobbied for a federal emergency declaration for the late-March ice storm that caused severe damage across a swath of northern Michigan.

“I was there for the people of northern Michigan because we don’t yet have a federal declaration,” she said. “I am continuing to try to get the Trump Administration to give us federal dollars for the recovery from the ice storm in northern Michigan. Those are the two items I was there on. I can mark one of them off of my list but trust that I am going to add more things to my list. I am gong to keep working on that.”

Whitmer said the state has been granted an extension to submit its request to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that was requested April 21.