Bill seeking to combat thievery of tax refund checks passed by Congress

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In a win for Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, her bill looking to combat the thievery of tax refund checks passed through Congress’ House of Representatives Monday.

The legislation is meant to give replacement checks to taxpayers who had their “tax refunds from the U.S. Treasury stolen in the mail” to be deposited directly in personal bank accounts, according to a written statement.

Presently, the replacement checks are sent via snail mail, which could be subject to the same thievery as their predecessor check, the statement said.

“It’s deeply unfortunate that for years seniors and hard working taxpayers have faced unnecessary hardship and stress after having their tax refund checks stolen in the mail,” Malliotakis said. “My constituents have been forced to wait months for replacements—wasting valuable time and delaying critical access to funds they rely on to make ends meet. Today, I’m proud that the House of Representatives took action and passed my bipartisan, commonsense legislation to address this issue. By restoring fiscal responsibility and ensuring taxpayers receive the payments they rely on in a timely manner, we send a strong message to fraudsters. I urge the Senate to act quickly so this bill can be sent to President Trump’s desk and signed into law.”

Malliotakis’ statement emphasized that Staten Island and South Brooklyn, which makes up her district, have “been hit hard by postal fraud, with at least $5.3 million in checks stolen across 377 cases.”

The Recovery of Stolen Checks Act has bipartisan co-sponsorship in Alabama’s Democratic Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Tennessee’s Republican Congressman David Kustoff.