LOS ANGELES – Two Chinese nationals living in Riverside County pleaded guilty today to participating in a large-scale, trans-Pacific scheme to defraud Apple Inc. through the fraudulent ‘returns’ of thousands of counterfeit iPhones, iPads, and other Apple goods that caused the Cupertino-based technology company at least $16.2 million in losses.
Yushan Lin, 31, and Shuyi Xing, 35, both of Corona, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Xing also pleaded guilty to an additional count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a separate money laundering scheme involving the laundering of more than $1 million in funds from various elder fraud schemes.
The four other defendants who have also pleaded guilty and await sentencing are: Wenhui Huang, 40, of Chino Hills, the group’s ringleader, who is an illegal alien; Yang Song, 38, of Corona, the group’s second-in-command; Junwei Jiang, 38, of East Los Angeles; and Zhengxuan Hu, 27, of Alhambra, who is an illegal alien.
According to Lin’s and Xing’s plea agreements, from at least December 2015 to March 2024, Huang, Song, and others coordinated with co-conspirators in China to smuggle counterfeit Apple iPhones, iPads, and other devices to them and other U.S.-based co-conspirators. The counterfeit Apple devices smuggled to Huang, Song, and others in the U.S. were designed to look like genuine Apple devices and included identification numbers matching the numbers on real Apple products that had been sold in North America, were owned by real people, and were under warranty through Apple’s manufacturer warranty and AppleCare+, Apple’s extended warranty program.
Once the counterfeit devices were smuggled into the U.S., the defendants fraudulently returned the counterfeit iPhones, iPads, and other devices to Apple as if they were genuine and had been legitimately purchased, were eligible for Apple’s warranty programs, and as if they were the lawful possessor of the Apple devices. The defendants knowingly and fraudulently represented that the counterfeit Apple devices they returned were genuine but were broken or non-operational and were covered by the company’s warranty programs.
As part of the scheme, the defendants visited multiple Apple stores throughout Southern California, including stores in Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, Irvine, Northridge, Manhattan Beach, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga, Cerritos and at shopping malls such as The Grove in Los Angeles, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Fashion Island in Newport Beach, and The Americana at Brand in Glendale.
The plea agreements require Lin and Xing to cooperate with the government’s ongoing investigation and prosecution of the other defendants in the case. Lin and Xing are the last of the five defendants charged in this case, and six defendants total, to plead guilty to federal criminal charges arising from their massive counterfeit Apple device fraud scheme in Southern California.
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Key Facts
- State: California
- Category: White Collar Crime|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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