Temecula Brothers Scam US Postal Service Out Of $2.3 Million

TEMECULA, CA — Two Temecula brothers pleaded guilty Friday to bilking the United States Postal Service out of more than $2.3 million.

Under plea agreements with federal prosecutors, Anwer Fareed Alam, 35, and Yousofzay Fahim Alam, 31, each admitted to one count of mail fraud.

Their ruse took place from October 2016 to May 2019. It involved the brothers purchasing USPS Priority Mail packages and postage, with each package including $100 in insurance for lost or damaged parcel contents, according to prosecutors.

Anwer Alam wrapped empty packages — or packages containing little or no value — and sent them via Priority Mail to fake recipients at fictitious addresses, prosecutors said.

Yousofzay Alam then submitted fraudulent insurance claims via the USPS website, falsely claiming the packages were lost or damaged in transit and contained items of higher value than they did. He also included fake invoices and photographs of items not actually inside the packages.

The Alam brothers used aliases and fake business names to hide the number of false insurance claims they submitted, prosecutors said.

USPS sent insurance claim checks by mail to the Alam brothers to various addresses in Temecula, including their home addresses, their business addresses, and approximately 15 different post office boxes they opened at two different post offices.

With the checks in hand, the brothers then deposited the fraudulently obtained funds into their bank accounts.

USPS's loss through the scheme was at least $2,367,033, according to federal prosecutors.

United States District Judge Wesley L. Hsu scheduled a November 1 sentencing hearing for the brothers, at which time each of them will face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.