NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Police said a postal worker stole coupons from his New York route and sold them at steep discounts on eBay to help pay his mortgage.

Investigators said Thomas Tang, 38, took more than 7,000 coupons from stacks dispersed on his route and those stored at the Corona branch where he worked, the New York Post reported Monday.


Tang told police he made $35,000 from JC Penny coupons alone selling them on eBay. Investigators said they were working to determine how much money Tang received from similar schemes involving coupons from Kohl's and Lowe's.

"I have two small children, and my wife is pregnant," court documents quote Tang as telling police. "I also have a mortgage, and I have to pay cash for my children's baby sitter. I did not want this to happen, but it was the only way I could avoid having my house foreclosed on."

Tang is charged with felony grand larceny.