[quote name='shrike4242']See, this is a little wrinkle about this situation. Since he didn't use the USPS for this stuff and everything went via DHL and not the USPS, I don't think you can file mail fraud charges on him. A good question for someone with a little more legal-mindedness than me.[/QUOTE]
Being someone with interests in business law, I took a quick look:
[quote name='federalcrimes.com']
nterpretation of today's revised mail fraud statutes finds generally that four elements must be met for an individual or organization to be convicted of mail fraud. An Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) must present evidence that when submitted to a jury or judge would prove beyond a reasonable doubt:
1. That the defendant knowingly created a scheme to defraud;
2. that the defendant acted with the specific intent to defraud;
3. that the defendant mailed something or caused another person to mail something through the United States Postal Service or a private commercial carrier for the purpose of carrying out the scheme; and
4. that the scheme to defraud employed false material representations.
So how have the courts interpreted mail fraud violations?
A. Sending false financial statements through mails in order to secure credit, knowing that such statements are false, constitutes violation of 18 USC § 1341. Dranow v. United States, 307 F.2d 545 (8th Cir. 1962).
B. Scheme whereby defendant sold certificates with promise to pay at maturity twice amount paid in, where defendant did not invest money received and had no income other than that paid by purchasers of certificates, was scheme to defraud. Walker v. United States, 152 F. 111 (9th Cir. 1907).
C. Mailing of any letter or writing by way of carrying out scheme is sufficient, although letter or writing itself may have been harmless. Byron v. United States, 273 F. 769 (9th Cir. 1921).
Potential Punishment:
One may be found guilty of a felony, imprisoned up to 20 years, and fined up to $250,000. If a financial institution is involved, one may be imprisoned up to 30 years and fined up to $1,000,000. The punishment is per transaction. For example, if 8 letters are sent through the U.S. Mail and 10 packages are sent through FedEx, the potential punishment above is multiplied by 18.
Frequently, the prosecuting Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) will secure a Federal Indictment from a Federal Grand Jury and charge a defendant not only with mail fraud, but also with securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, public corruption, or RICO crimes and conspiracy to commit the aforementioned crimes. One should also be aware that since 1987 parole has been abolished in the Federal System. Expungement (removal of conviction from public records) is also not available.
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Also, from USDOJ, USAM (US Attorneys' Manual), Title 9 > Criminal Resourse Manual
952 Use of Private or Commercial Interstate Carriers
To combat telemarketing fraud, Congress amended the mail fraud statute to broaden its application to include private or commercial interstate carriers in addition to the United States Postal Service. See Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act of 1994, Pub.L. No. 103-322, Title XXV, § 25006, and Title XXXIII, § 330016(1)(H), 108 Stat. 2087, 2147 (enacted as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994); see also Cong. Rec. S2654-61 (March 10, 1993) (statement of Sen. Hatch) and S10017-19 (July 30, 1993) (statement of Sen. Hatch).
QUERY: What is an interstate carrier? See generally Peter J. Henning, Maybe it Should Just be Called Federal Fraud: The Changing Nature of the Mail Fraud Statute, 36 B.C.L. Rev. 435, 473-77 (1995) ("The large delivery service companies, such as Federal Express and United Parcel Service, are clearly interstate carriers, but small entities, such as local messenger services, are not as easily categorized.").
Someone's going to federal-pound-me-in-the-ass prison.