NEW YORK -UNS: U.S. authorities have announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Faheem Akram, a resident of Khanewal, Punjab.
Authorities have also warned the public not to attempt to apprehend him themselves, but instead to report any information about his whereabouts to law enforcement agencies.
Faheem Akram, a resident of Khanewal, has been indicted in the U.S. state of Florida.
According to American authorities, the 33-year-old IT professional allegedly created a website called “Labels Bank”, through which U.S. customers could purchase postage stamps and shipping labels.
U.S. authorities allege that Akram caused approximately $126 million in losses to the United States Postal Service (USPS), equivalent to around PKR 35 billion. The website allegedly operated by him has since been shut down and seized by U.S. authorities.
According to investigators, the suspect used the website to sell more than five million fraudulent postage stamps to over 5,200 customers.
The stamps were allegedly sold at significantly reduced prices without properly determining factors such as the destination, distance, or weight of the mail being sent.
Authorities have not disclosed the suspect’s current whereabouts.
When contacted, Khanewal District Police Officer Abid Waraich said that Akram had previously been involved in similar online fraud in Pakistan. However, no criminal case had been registered against him in Pakistan in connection with those activities.
Police officials said Akram is a resident of Khanewal city and works as a software engineer. They suspect that he may currently be outside Pakistan.
