By Howard Koplowitz
A Rockaway businessman faces up to 15 years in prison after he was charged with allegedly forging hundreds of postage labels to ship hundreds of items at no cost, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.
Yisroel Goodman, 50, of 24−12 Oceancrest Blvd. in Bayswater, allegedly bought postage online and duplicated labels to commit the fraud from December 2007 to December 2008, Brown said. Hundreds of packages were involved, totaling more than $1,000 worth of fraudulent postage, the DA said.
Brown said Goodman runs the Internet business Complete Computer Services out of his home.
“With the holiday season in full swing and more and more consumers shopping online, the defendant is accused of trying to cut his costs by counterfeiting postage labels,” the DA said in a statement. “Unfortunately for him, he will now pay a far greater price for not having paid for postage in the first place.”
Goodman was arraigned Dec. 11 in Queens Criminal Court in Kew Gardens on forgery, possession of a forged instrument and grand larceny, the DA said. He was released on his own recognizance, but faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of the charges, Brown said.
Brown said a search warrant of the businessman’s Bayswater residence Dec. 10 turned up four parcels with counterfeit labels, several sheets of printed postage labels with forged postage and about 25 labels that Goodman allegedly said was his “test paper to make sure the labels fit right.”
Goodman allegedly admitted to forging the labels by using a scanner and computer to make it appear that he paid for postage, Brown said.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e−mail at hkoplowitz@timesledger.com or by phone at 718−229−0300, Ext. 173.
