Washington, D.C. – The U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday that five Chinese nationals are accused of orchestrating a massive scheme to return thousands of counterfeit iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products in exchange for genuine devices, resulting in at least $12.3 million in losses for the tech giant.
The defendants, identified as Yang Song, 40, of Corona; Junwei Jiang, 37, of East Los Angeles; Zhengxuan Hu, 26, of Alhambra; Yushan Lin, 30, of Corona; and Shuyi Xing, 34, of Corona, were arrested on Thursday. They face charges including conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, wire and mail fraud, and conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, according to an indictment returned on May 23 and unsealed Friday.
“The defendants are accused of taking advantage of Apple’s customer-service policies to steal more than $12 million in merchandise,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada for the Central District of California said in a statement. “Companies should not be victimized and defrauded for being responsive to customer needs, and these federal charges send a message that our office will take decisive action to uncover and prosecute those who perpetrate fraud.”
