New York Court Issues TRO Barring 2 Logistics Companies From Using USPS
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on May 16 issued a temporary restraining order against two logistics companies, barring them from using the U.S. Postal Service to ship packages with counterfeit postage.
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The U.S. Attorney's Office brought a civil case against the companies, YDH Express and YDH International, and their owner, Yizhao "Harvey" Hou, alleging that, from 2022 to 2025 the defendants committed mail fraud and conspired to commit mail fraud by shipping "thousands of parcels through USPS using counterfeit USPS postage labels," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. The complaint said the companies receive these parcels from companies in China.
Judge Natasha Merle granted the government's TRO request, finding there to be "probable cause to believe that" the defendants "have engaged in the ongoing commission of mail fraud." The judge noted that, from June 2022 to April 2024, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service investigated the defendants' warehouses eight times and found counterfeit postage during each investigation.
The judge said the U.S. showed "irreparable harm," since there's "compelling evidence that permitting defendants to continue to participate in the alleged fraud scheme would constitute irreparable harm because the United States Postal Service would continue to be defrauded by defendants’ use of counterfeit or invalid postage labels, or both." Without injunctive relief, the U.S. wouldn't be able to "recoup its losses," since it won't be able to identify specific parcels with counterfeit postage after they are mailed, the court said.