Walnut Woman Pleads Guilty to $150 Million Postal Service Fraud
Lijuan “Angela” Chen, a 51-year-old resident of Walnut, California, has pleaded guilty to defrauding the United States Postal Service (USPS) out of over $150 million. Chen’s guilty plea, entered in federal court, includes charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States and use of counterfeit storage.
Chen, along with her co-defendant Chuanhua “Hugh” Hu, operated a shipping business in the City of Industry from November 2019 to May 2023. The business provided services to China-based logistics companies. To evade postage costs, Hu devised a scheme involving the creation of counterfeit postage by printing duplicate and counterfeit Netstamps, which are available for purchase online from third-party vendors.
The fraudulent operation involved receiving parcels from China-based vendors, affixing shipping labels indicating that postage had been paid, and transferring the packages to USPS facilities for shipment. These labels contained various red flags, including recycled “intelligent barcode data” from previously mailed packages.
Federal authorities estimate that Chen and Hu mailed more than 34 million parcels with counterfeit postage, resulting in a staggering $150 million loss for the USPS. In November 2019, Hu fled to China upon learning of the ongoing investigation into his use of counterfeit postage. While in China, Hu continued fabricating counterfeit postage shipping labels using a computer program, while Chen managed the warehouses used for shipping in the United States.
Hu, who remains a fugitive in China, faces charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, passing and possessing counterfeit obligations of the United States, and forging and counterfeiting postage stamps.
As part of her plea agreement, Chen has agreed to forfeit funds seized from her bank accounts, insurance policies, and real estate holdings in various cities within the San Gabriel Valley, as well as in Chino and Chino Hills.
Chen is scheduled to be sentenced on August 2, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of five years. If convicted, she could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
1 Response
While it is important to acknowledge the seriousness of the crime committed by Lijuan “Angela” Chen, it is equally important to consider the circumstances that may have led her to engage in such fraudulent activities. Instead of solely focusing on her guilt, it is crucial to examine the systemic issues within the United States Postal Service (USPS) that may have allowed such a large-scale fraud to occur.
One could argue that the USPS should take responsibility for its lack of internal controls and oversight, which enabled