LAHORE — Pakistan’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) has arrested Faheem Akram, the alleged operator of a website that sold millions of counterfeit U.S. postage labels, ending a manhunt in which U.S. authorities had offered a $100,000 reward for his capture.
Akram, 33, from Khanewal in Punjab, was arrested in Lahore after a 10-day operation, NCCIA Additional Director Atif Ameer told reporters on Tuesday. Eight special investigation teams raided 35 locations across Punjab, Islamabad and Sindh, questioned 47 people, and analyzed 122 call records, 50 IMEI tracking reports and footage from 120 cameras, according to the agency. Investigators say they have identified 16 bank accounts allegedly used by the network, including accounts held in the names of Akram’s brother, wife, sister and maternal aunt. A case has been registered in Pakistan, and investigators are tracing the movement of funds to establish whether others were involved.
U.S. prosecutors allege that Akram operated LabelsBank.com, an unauthorized website that sold counterfeit U.S. Postal Service shipping labels at a fixed price — typically $2 per label — regardless of a parcel’s weight, size or destination. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 5.1 million counterfeit labels were sold to over 5,200 customers, allowing parcels to move through the U.S. mail at a fraction of legitimate rates and causing the Postal Service more than $126 million in losses — roughly Rs 35 billion.
A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida indicted Akram on September 28 on one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make and sell counterfeit postage, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage labels, and four counts of wire fraud. He faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit-postage counts and up to 20 years on each wire fraud count if convicted. In conjunction with the indictment, the Postal Service obtained a court order to seize the LabelsBank.com domain and shut the site down.
“The alleged scheme was simple but massive: sell counterfeit postage online at fixed, cut-rate prices, as little as $2 per label, regardless of a package’s weight, size, or destination,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said when the charges were announced. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) later offered up to $100,000 for information leading to Akram’s arrest and conviction — a reward Zark News reported on October 6. “Our reach goes beyond our borders,” said Inspector in Charge Bladismir Rojo of the USPIS Miami Division, which is investigating the U.S. case. “Transnational criminal organizations defrauding the Postal Service and targeting U.S. consumers by pushing phony postage will be found and brought to justice.”
What happens next: Akram is in Pakistani custody on the NCCIA case, and the U.S. charges remain pending in Florida. Neither agency has said whether the United States will seek his extradition, and Pakistani authorities have not yet announced a court date or remand. The indictment is an allegation, and Akram is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
Read Zark News’ earlier report: U.S. Offers Reward for Pakistani Man Accused in $126 Million Counterfeit Postage Scheme
