Six former Ravn Air employees have now been arrested for stealing mail bound for the bush. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Anchorage, the thefts took place over a period of two years, starting in spring of 2015 and ending in spring of 2017.
The former ramp employees are accused in a scheme that involved using a Ravn truck to take valuable items from the Anchorage airport post office to their own vehicles, rather than to Ravn’s planes. The items would then be sold. Among the valuables were tobacco, cigarettes, and electronics, including 343 computers.
The alleged thefts included computers bound for the school in Mountain Village, and also schools in Unalakleet and Stebbins.
Mail bound for a number of other communities was stolen, including St. Mary’s, Emmonak, Kotlik, Aniak, Alakanuk, Grayling, Kalskag, Koyuk, and Stebbins.
Ravn issued a press release saying that when company officials learned of the scheme, they cooperated with authorities and fired the employees.