Five Chinese nationals arrested in $12 million Apple product fraud
What's the story
Five Chinese nationals have been arrested for allegedly defrauding Apple of $12.3 million, by exchanging counterfeit iPhones and iPads for genuine ones.
Identified as Yang Song, Junwei Jiang, Zhengxuan Hu, Yushan Lin, and Shuyi Xing, the men reportedly brought 16,000 non-functional fake devices to various Apple Store locations.
The counterfeit devices were so convincingly made that they were exchanged for real iPhone and iPad units, by unsuspecting Apple Store employees.
Legal consequences
Accused face serious charges for Apple fraud
The accused men are facing charges of aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, as well as conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
If found guilty, they could each face up to 20 years behind bars for each of the conspiracy to commit fraud charges, two years for identity theft, and 10 years for trafficking counterfeit goods.
United States Attorney Martin Estrada stated that decisive action will be taken against those who perpetrate fraud.
Scam tactics
Scam operation details and previous similar cases
The scam involved use of fake devices with identification numbers that matched real Apple products under warranty, owned by US consumers.
The defendants returned these fake devices to over 10 Apple Stores in California, including Northridge, Beverly Hills, and Rancho Cucamonga.
After the exchange, the genuine Apple goods were shipped out of the country.
This case echoes a similar operation in 2019, when three brothers were sentenced for importing and exchanging counterfeit iPhone and iPad units.