A federal court in Los Angeles, California, announced on July 9 that a Chinese woman was sentenced to prison and fined for using counterfeit postage stamps to ship tens of millions of parcels, causing more than $150 million in losses to the United States Postal Service (USPS).
Angela Chen, also known as Li Juan Chen, 53, pleaded guilty in April 2024 to federal counts of conspiracy, forging and counterfeiting postage stamps. She was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. She had been arrested and entered her guilty plea in 2024.
In addition to her prison sentence, Chen was ordered to pay more than $158 million in restitution.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, under her plea agreement and court orders, Chen has agreed to forfeit funds that law enforcement seized from her bank accounts, insurance policies, and real estate in Walnut, Chino, Chino Hills, South El Monte, Diamond Bar, and West Covina.
From at least November 2019 to May 2023, Chen and her co-defendant, Chuanhua “Hugh” Hu, owned and operated a parcel delivery company in the City of Industry, providing shipping services to Chinese logistics companies that included mailing packages through the USPS.
Court documents indicated that the vast majority of the shipping labels used by the company were counterfeit, and these labels typically bore "intelligent barcode data" recycled from previously mailed packages.
After receiving packages from clients, the company used counterfeit Netstamps to mail them. These fake stamps were purchased online from third-party vendors and then printed on adhesive paper.
In November 2019, two days after being questioned by postal inspectors, Hu fled back to China. Chen, however, remained in the United States, continuing the fraudulent operation while managing to evade law enforcement tracking.
“Engaging in counterfeit postage fraud causes monetary losses to customers and the Postal Service alike. Fraudsters beware, the Postal Inspection Service will continue to exhaust all its efforts to disrupt your scheme, find you, and bring you to justice.” He said.
Hu remains a fugitive. He is charged with one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, three counts of passing and possessing counterfeit obligations of the United States, and one count of forging and counterfeiting postage stamps.