A woman from Los Angeles County entered a plea of not guilty on Thursday in federal court. She is facing charges related to shipping millions of parcels using counterfeit postage. Prosecutors claim that this scheme caused a loss of over $150 million for the U.S. Postal Service.
The defendant, Lijuan “Angela” Chen, who is 50 years old and resides in Walnut, has been charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, possession and use of counterfeit postage, and forging and counterfeiting postage stamps, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The trial is scheduled for August 15 in downtown Los Angeles.
In court documents filed in Los Angeles federal court, it is stated, “The evidence obtained in the investigation shows that Chen is operating a business which provides shipping and postage services to businesses, including e-commerce vendors operating out of China, that seek discounted USPS rates for mailing their products within the United States.”
Further in the papers, it is mentioned, “Multiple examinations conducted by USPS and USPIS staff have revealed that the vast majority of the postage used by Chen and her business to ship goods within the United States is counterfeit.”
Federal prosecutors allege that Chen’s business, which is based in the industry, receives parcels from vendors and others. She applies shipping labels with purportedly paid postage and then arranges for the parcels to be transferred to USPS facilities for nationwide shipping.
According to a USPS analyst, it is estimated that between November 1 and April 30, Chen and her employees shipped over 9 million mail parcels with counterfeit postage. This resulted in an estimated revenue loss of over $150 million for the USPS, as stated in the indictment.
Prosecutors reveal that Chen’s shipping business was previously operated by her husband. However, he left for China just two days after being interviewed by postal inspectors in November 2019.
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