Samuel Swartwout was able to steal from the U. S. Treasury by . maintaining a fleet of ships that sailed between New York and England and failing to collect import fees when they docked in New York

keeping the revenue he collected as the Collector of the Port of New York and failing to deliver it to the U. S. Treasury

using his position as the Collector of the Port of New York to require all sailors arriving in port to pay a tariff

using his office as Collector of the Port of New York to write checks to himself drawn on the U. S. Treasury’s bank