They falsely said USPS packages were lost or damaged, collecting $2.3 million. Now brothers face prison

Two Riverside County brothers pleaded guilty last week to mail fraud after scamming the United States Postal Service out of more than $2.3 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office of the Central District of California.

Anwer Fareed Alam, 35, and Yousofzay Fahim Alam, 31, of Temecula filed thousands of falsified insurance claims on packages in order to make a profit, according to the details of their plea agreements, which were released by the U.S. Attorney’s office Friday.

They each face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, according to the release.

From 2016 to 2019, the brothers used fake names and addresses to purchase USPS Priority Mail packages and postage that included insurance for lost or damaged contents. Then they submitted fraudulent insurance claims, alleging that the packages contained items of higher value that had been lost or damaged.

They would sometimes include fake invoices and even photos of items that were not actually inside the packages.

The pair cashed in thousands of insurance claim checks, the U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General found, which investigated the case.

“Relying on the false information in the fraudulent insurance claim forms, USPS issued checks to the Alam brothers to cover their purported losses up to $100 in value plus the cost of shipping,” Ciaran McEvoy, a public information officer for 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.