Feds Charge Illinois Lettershop With Defrauding USPS Of $16 Million

CHICAGO, IL — The owners of a suburban bulk-mailing company allegedly swindled the U.S. Postal Service out of at least $16 million by forging documents and secretly using an official date stamp to fraudulently authenticate payment of postage for than 80 million pieces of mail, according to criminal charges filed today by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

From 2010 to 2015, the defendants allegedly caused a loss to the Postal Service of at least $16 million, according to the charges. According to a government press release, Patel and Lakkamsani allegedly schemed with a third defendant, DAVID GARGANO, to fraudulently cause the Postal Service to deliver numerous bulk mailings without payment … (click to read more)

According to the press release, “The public is reminded that an information is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”