Pakistani authorities have arrested a man accused of masterminding a large-scale counterfeit postage operation that caused losses of more than $124m to $126m to the United States Postal Service.

Faheem Akram, 33, from Khanewal, Pakistan, was arrested on Tuesday following an extensive search operation and raids across the country, a senior official at the Pakistani National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency told reporters.

Akram is accused of operating LabelsBank.com, a fraudulent website through which he sold more than 5.1 million counterfeit shipping labels to thousands of customers in the United States since August 2023.

The counterfeit labels were typically sold at around $2 each, allowing customers to ship packages at rates far below official postal prices regardless of a package's weight, size, or destination. The losses cited represent revenue and shipping costs absorbed by the Postal Service, not proceeds from the website, officials said.

An investigation found that more than 5,200 individuals purchased the fake labels through the site. Pakistani investigators also established that Akram used 16 bank accounts, including his own and those of several family members, to conduct the operation.

Akram was indicted last month by a federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida. He 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 stamp labels, and four counts of wire fraud.

If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison on the conspiracy and counterfeit postage counts, and up to 20 years in prison on each wire fraud count.

Earlier this month, the US Postal Inspection Service had offered a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading to his arrest. Authorities have since shut down the website.

Akram is currently in custody in Pakistan. It remains unclear whether he will face trial in the country or be extradited to the United States.