MJP –
Two Temecula brothers were sentenced to federal prison Friday for defrauding the United States Postal Service (USPS) out of more than $2.1 million through thousands of fraudulent insurance claims on Priority Mail packages, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.
Anwer Fareed Alam, 36, and Yousofzay Fahim Alam, 34, each received a 27-month prison sentence and were ordered to jointly pay $2,135,739 in restitution, the department stated.
According to the department, between October 2016 and May 2019, the Alam brothers purchased USPS Priority Mail postage, which included $100 insurance for lost or damaged contents.
Anwer Alam reportedly filled packages with little to no value, then sent them to fictitious recipients at nonexistent addresses.
The U.S. attorney’s office reports that Yousofzay Alam then submitted fraudulent insurance claims through the USPS website, falsely certifying that the parcels contained valuable items and claiming they had been lost or damaged during transit.
These submissions included fabricated invoices and photos of items purportedly in the packages but not actually present, reportedly using aliases and fake business names to conceal the volume of their claims.
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Based on the false details, USPS reportedly issued checks to cover these purported losses, including $100 insurance and shipping costs.
These checks were mailed to various addresses associated with the brothers, including their home, business, and approximately 15 different P.O. boxes in Temecula, according to reports.
The fraudulent funds were subsequently deposited into the Alam brothers’ bank accounts, the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed.
In one instance, in November 2018, a $106.59 insurance claim check was sent via USPS to a business address in Temecula.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports the total loss to USPS from the Alams’ scheme was approximately $2,135,739.
