On April 29, 2020, in the Eastern District of New York, Feng Chen was charged with theft of mail, including multiple economic impact payments from the United States Treasury Department, otherwise known as "stimulus payments." The arrest was announced by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and the New York Police Department (NYPD).

According to the court documents, on April 28, 2020, NYPD police officers observed a man, later identified as Chen, looking inside a medical collection bin at a closed medical office, and then walking to a nearby residential building and examining mail left at the door. Chen continued to walk to another residential building, carrying what appeared to be mail. He discarded the mail he was holding when he saw the police officers. When questioned, Chen made contradictory statements and was discovered to have an outstanding arrest warrant for a criminal case involving identity theft. While conducting a search of Chen incident to arrest, the officers recovered United States Treasury checks totaling more than $12,000, credit cards, and opened envelopes and letters bearing the names of various individuals and addresses.

If convicted, Chen faces a maximum of five years imprisonment.

Source:  The facts in this case narrative come from the following publicly available documents: E.D.N.Y. Press Rel., issued Apr. 29, 2020 and E.D.N.Y., Crim. Comp., filed Apr. 29, 2020.