ISLAMABAD: US authorities are seeking a Pakistani man accused of running a counterfeit postage operation that caused more than $126 million in losses to the US Postal Service, offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest and conviction. 

Faheem Akram, 33, from Khanewal in Pakistan’s eastern Punjab province, was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida last month over LabelsBank.com, a website US prosecutors say sold more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels to thousands of customers. Authorities have seized and shut down the website. 

The US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the federal law enforcement agency responsible for crimes involving the US mail system, has now issued a wanted notice for Akram and offered the $100,000 reward. The agency warned members of the public not to try to apprehend him themselves. 

“We shut down his website. Now we need your help finding him,” US Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in a social media post on Monday.

“If you know where he is, call Postal Inspectors,” he added.

The latest announcement follows charges announced last month by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida over a scheme prosecutors say allowed customers to send packages through the US postal system for a fraction of the legitimate cost. 

According to court records cited by the Justice Department, Akram operated LabelsBank.com, which allegedly sold counterfeit US postage at a fixed price, typically $2 per label regardless of a package’s weight, size or destination. The website was not authorized to sell USPS products or services. 

Postal inspectors said more than 5,000 customers used the website to buy over 5.1 million counterfeit labels. By allowing packages to be shipped at heavily discounted rates, the operation allegedly caused more than $126 million in lost revenue and shipping costs to the postal service. 

Akram faces one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and to make and sell counterfeit postage stamps, five counts of making and selling counterfeit postage labels and four counts of wire fraud. 

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit-postage counts and up to 20 years on each wire-fraud count, according to the Justice Department. An indictment contains allegations, and Akram is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. 

The Postal Inspection Service’s Miami Division is investigating the case.

US authorities have not said in their public statements where Akram is currently located. The USPIS notice asks anyone with information about him to contact postal inspectors and says information provided to investigators will be kept confidential. 

Arab News reported last week that US authorities had charged Akram and seized the LabelsBank.com domain as part of the investigation.