An Inland Empire woman faces arraignment on federal charges on Thursday, accused of using counterfeit postage to ship millions of parcels in a scheme that resulted in the U.S. Postal Service losing over $60 million.
Lijuan “Angela” Chen, a 50-year-old resident of Walnut, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States and possession and use of counterfeit postage.
According to court documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, “The evidence obtained during the investigation shows that Chen is operating a business that offers shipping and postage services to businesses, including e-commerce vendors from China, who want discounted USPS rates to mail their products within the United States.”
“Multiple examinations conducted by USPS and USPIS staff have discovered that most of the postage used by Chen and her business to ship goods within the United States is counterfeit,” states the complaint.
Prosecutors allege that Chen’s Industry-based business received parcels from vendors and others, applied shipping labels with purportedly paid postage, and then arranged for the parcels to be transferred to USPS facilities for national shipping.
An analyst from USPS estimates that between November 1 and April 30, Chen and her employees shipped over 9 million mail parcels with counterfeit postage, resulting in estimated revenue losses of over $60 million for USPS.
Prosecutors state that Chen’s shipping business was previously operated by her husband, who left for China two days after being interviewed by postal inspectors in November 2019.
Each of the two charges carries a potential prison sentence of up to five years, as per the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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