Lahkwinder Singh and his corporation, Lovely Singh Inc., have been convicted for the illegal trafficking of pharmaceuticals.
While doing business as a franchise of shipping company Postal Annex, Lovely Singh Inc. facilitated the shipment of controlled pharmaceutical drugs such as hydrocodone, Xanax and oxycodone through the mail.
Lahkwinder Singh, the CEO of the company was sentenced i to 36 months in federal prison. The 36-month sentence is one of the longest imposed in the Southern District of California for a structuring conviction.
Singh’s closely held corporation, Lovely Singh, Inc., was ordered to forfeit $1,000,000, and serve a 5-year term of probation.
Singh owned and operated Postal Annex franchises in Lemon Grove, California, under the name Lovely Singh. According to the complaint, Singh engaged in a multi-year pattern of cash transactions below the $10,000 threshold to avoid detection by banks and law enforcement, with the intent to deposit Lovely Singh’s cash proceeds free from scrutiny.
The plea agreement admits that Singh and his co-defendant Lovely Singh Inc. distributed Schedule II controlled substances to persons throughout the United States.
Couriers imported pre-packaged quantities of controlled substances into the United States from Mexico and delivered them to the Postal Annexes. The substances were then illegally sold for prices ranging between $1 and $100.
The plea agreement also states that Singh attempted to set up $2,955,521 of currency transactions through 469 cash deposits at several domestic financial institutions. Singh conducted multiple deposits of less than $10,000 in cash on the same day. He also made deposits into at least 19 different bank accounts over the course of several business days.
These deposits were conducted with the purpose of avoiding a Currency Transaction Report, which is the report a financial institution must file for cash deposits exceeding $10,000 during any banking day. These cash deposits included money received in return for shipping controlled substances from the Postal Annex stores.
Singh was ultimately charged with and found guilty of Structuring Currency Transactions with One or More Financial Institutions.