Remand extended in alleged Rs35bn US postage labels fraud

A judicial magistrate in Lahore has extended the physical remand of a suspect in an alleged Rs35 billion fraud involving the online sale of counterfeit United States postage labels.

The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) produced the suspect, Faheem Akram, before the court on Monday on completion of his previous five-day remand. The agency also produced a recently arrested co-suspect, Naeem, before the court for his first physical remand.

Magistrate Naeem Wattoo granted the NCCIA the physical remand of both suspects until October 30.

How the alleged scheme worked

The agency alleged that Akram had been operating a website, LabelsBank.com, since August 2023 to sell counterfeit US postage labels. More than five million fake postal tickets were sold through the website, according to the agency.

US prosecutors allege that the website sold the labels for around $2 each, regardless of a package’s weight, size or destination. That flat price was the core of the scheme. Genuine postage is priced by weight and destination, so a $2 label for any parcel would undercut the real cost by a wide margin.

The attraction for buyers is clear. A seller shipping parcels to the United States could cut postage costs sharply by using a cheap label. The loss, prosecutors say, fell on the US Postal Service, which carried the parcels without receiving the correct postage.

According to the US Department of Justice, Akram was indicted by a federal grand jury in Florida in September 2026 over the alleged sale of more than 5.1 million counterfeit postage labels. Prosecutors say the sales caused losses exceeding $126 million to the US Postal Service.

A US court order authorised the seizure and shutdown of the website.

What the Pakistani proceedings involve

In Pakistan, the case is being pursued by the NCCIA, the agency that investigates cybercrime. Physical remand allows investigators to keep a suspect in custody for questioning while they gather evidence.

Akram has now completed one five-day remand period, and the court has granted a further period running until October 30. Naeem, the co-suspect arrested more recently, has been granted his first physical remand for the same period.

The court proceedings so far deal with custody and investigation, not with a final verdict. The allegations against both men remain allegations at this stage, and the case will be tested as the investigation proceeds and charges are framed.

The gap between the Pakistani and American figures is worth noting. Dawn reports the alleged fraud at Rs35 billion, while US prosecutors put the loss to the US Postal Service at more than $126 million. The two figures reflect different ways of valuing the same alleged sales, and they underline the scale that prosecutors on both sides are describing.

Why the case matters beyond the courtroom

Counterfeit postage is not a victimless fraud. When parcels travel on fake labels, the postal service bears the cost of delivery without the revenue that pays for it. At a scale of millions of labels, that cost runs into tens of millions of dollars.

The case also shows how cybercrime investigations now cross borders as a matter of course. A website operated from one country, selling labels for use in another, drew action from both the NCCIA in Pakistan and a federal grand jury in Florida.

For Pakistani authorities, the case is a test of the NCCIA’s ability to handle a complex, cross-border financial cybercrime case. The agency will need to show how the website operated, how payments were collected, and how the labels were produced and distributed.

What happens next

Both suspects remain in NCCIA custody until October 30, when they are due to be produced before the court again. Investigators will use the remand period to complete their questioning and gather further evidence.

The US prosecution, meanwhile, proceeds separately. The Florida indictment and the seizure of the website are already in place, and the Pakistani proceedings will run alongside that case rather than replacing it.

A scheme alleged to have sold more than five million fake labels is now facing courts on two continents.

Who are the suspects?

Faheem Akram, the key suspect, and a co-suspect identified as Naeem. Both are in NCCIA custody on physical remand until October 30.

How large is the alleged fraud?

Pakistani investigators put it at Rs35 billion. US prosecutors say more than 5.1 million counterfeit labels were sold, causing losses exceeding $126 million to the US Postal Service.

What did the website allegedly sell?

• Dawn, “Remand of suspect in US postal tickets scam extended” (27 October 2026): https://www.dawn.com/news/2040077/remand-of-suspect-in-us-postal-tickets-scam-extended