BANK WENT POSTAL

Barclays in probe

The Justice Department is investigating UK banking giant Barclays and the US Postal Service over an alleged attempt to unmask a whistleblower, The Post has learned.

Barclays, at the request of Chief Executive Jes Staley, reached out to postal inspectors after its board received two letters mailed from an anonymous employee complaining about the hiring of a mid-level executive, according to a source familiar with the probe.

Justice Department investigators are trying to determine whether officials at Barclays or USPS inspectors may have violated civil Dodd-Frank whistleblower protections or even criminal law by attempting to unmask the employee, according to the source.

It’s not yet clear if the USPS acted on the bank’s request. Barclays said it never learned the identity of the whistleblower.

While the civil protections of Dodd-Frank are clear, one expert in whistleblower cases said the repercussions could be more severe.

It’s possible that anyone in the US government who aided the bank in unmasking the whistleblower could face criminal charges, according to Jordan Thomas, chair of the whistleblower committee at New York law firm Labaton Sucharow.

“Under what circumstances do government agencies work for corporations?” Thomas asked.

Justice Department investigators are joining the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and New York’s Department of Financial Services to investigate the bank, and are investigating whether a US government employee had violated Section 922 of Dodd-Frank by helping Barclays unmask the whistleblower, sources said.

Spokespeople for Justice and the USPS didn’t respond to requests for comment. Kerrie Cohen, a Barclays spokeswoman, declined comment.

The bank announced on Monday that Staley had asked the bank’s internal security team in June to find out who sent two letters to the board that were critical of the hiring of Tim Main to run Barclays’ financial institutions group, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

The letters raised questions about “Staley’s knowledge of and role in dealing with” personal issues at Main’s previous employer, “and the appropriateness of the recruitment process followed on this occasion by Barclays,” the bank said.