Two Riverside County brothers pleaded guilty last week to mail fraud after defrauding the United States Postal Service of more than $2.3 million, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
Anwer Fareed Alam, 35, and Yousofzay Fahim Alam, 31, of Temecula, filed thousands of falsified insurance claims on packages for profit, according to details of their plea agreements, which were released by the federal prosecutor's office. Federal Prosecutor on Friday.
Each of them faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the statement.
From 2016 to 2019, the brothers used false names and addresses to purchase USPS Priority Mail packages and postage that included insurance for lost or damaged contents. They then filed fraudulent insurance claims, claiming the packages contained higher-value items that had been lost or damaged.
They sometimes included fake invoices and even photographs of items that were not actually inside the packages.
The couple cashed thousands of insurance claim checks, the U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General, which investigated the case, found.
“Based on false information contained in the fraudulent insurance claim forms, USPS issued checks to the Alam brothers to cover their alleged losses worth up to $100 plus shipping costs,” said Ciaran McEvoy, public information officer. from the U.S. Attorney's office said in a statement Friday.
Together, the brothers maintained about 15 different post office boxes in Temecula, according to the release.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Nov. 1.
