A woman is set to plead guilty Friday in Los Angeles federal court to charges alleging she used counterfeit postage to ship millions of parcels in a scheme prosecutors say caused the U.S. Postal Service to lose over $60 million.
Lijuan “Angela” Chen, 51, of Walnut, has agreed to enter her plea to federal counts of conspiracy and forging and counterfeiting postage stamps, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Chen allegedly provided shipping and postage services to businesses, including e-commerce vendors operating out of China, that sought discounted USPS rates for mailing their products within the United States, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
“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,” prosecutors wrote, referring to the United States Postal Inspection Service, the federal law enforcement, crime prevention and security arm of the U.S. Postal Service.
Chen’s Industry-based business received parcels from the vendors and others, applied shipping labels showing postage purportedly paid, then arranged for the parcels to be transferred to USPS facilities to be shipped across the nation, federal prosecutors contend.
A USPS analyst estimates that between Nov. 1 and April 30, Chen and her employees shipped over 9 million mail parcels containing counterfeit postage, resulting in estimated revenue losses to the USPS of over $60 million, the indictment states.
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, prosecutors said.