A San Diego man admitted to defrauding the U.S. Postal Service of $18,000 through altered postal labels Tuesday, the U.S. Attorney announced.
Jack Zeljko Pasic, 51, pleaded guilty to mail fraud, admitting to defrauding more than 9,000 packages shipped from San Diego to eBay customers out of postage. The shipping took place between April 2009 and October 2010.
During 2008 to 2010, when Pasic ran Diavega, which sold items to eBay customers online, Pasic falsely labeled packages he sent, saying they were being sent from and mailed to the same address, according to his plea agreement. This ensured that when USPS discovered Pasic had actually only paid $0.01 in postage, return packages were delivered to customers instead of to Pasic.
In many cases, customers ended up paying additional fees to the USPS, even though they had sent earlier shipping fees to Pasic.
“The vigilance of the U.S. Postal Service has ensured that the defendant will pay for services unjustly billed to the American public,” said United States Attorney Laura Duffy in a statement.
Pasic is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 8, 2016.
