A Pakistani national has been indicted in the United States (US) over allegations that he operated a website selling counterfeit US postage labels, causing more than $126m in losses to the US Postal Service.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) said a federal grand jury in Florida charged 33-year-old Faheem Akram of Khanewal, Pakistan, with operating the website LabelsBank.com.
The site allegedly sold counterfeit USPS postage for as little as $2 per label, regardless of a package’s weight, size or destination.
According to prosecutors, more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels were sold through the website to more than 5,200 people.
The labels allegedly allowed customers to send packages at prices significantly below legitimate USPS rates. Prosecutors estimate that the scheme resulted in more than $126m in losses to the postal service.
US authorities have seized the LabelsBank.com domain and shut down the website under a court order, the DOJ said.
The case is being investigated by the US Postal Inspection Service’s Miami Division.
Akram faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the US and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts related to the alleged manufacture and sale of counterfeit postage labels, and four counts of wire fraud.
If convicted, the conspiracy and counterfeit-postage charges carry maximum penalties of up to five years in prison, while each wire-fraud count carries a potential maximum sentence of 20 years.
US prosecutors have stressed that an indictment is an allegation and does not establish guilt.
Akram is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.
The case is being prosecuted in the Southern District of Florida, with federal prosecutors handling the charges following the Postal Inspection Service investigation.
