$16.2M iPhone, iPad Scam Involved Chinese Nationals Living In Corona: COURT

CORONA, CA — Two Chinese nationals residing in Riverside County pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme in which counterfeit iPhones and iPads were imported from China and then exchanged at Apple stores across the Southland.

Yushan Lin, 31, and Shuyi Xing, 35, both residents of Corona, pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court 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, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The real identification numbers and serial numbers on the counterfeit devices that the defendants returned were designed to impersonate genuine Apple devices owned by customers throughout the United States — and therefore deceived Apple into replacing the counterfeit devices with real devices under Apple's warranty programs, court papers show.

As part of the scheme, prosecutors say, 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.

After successfully returning the counterfeit Apple devices for genuine ones, the defendants shipped the genuine devices to co-conspirators both in the United States and abroad, primarily in China, where the genuine Apple devices were resold at a substantial profit.

Four other defendants also pleaded guilty to federal charges and await sentencing.

Cupertino-based Apple said the scheme caused the company at least $16.2 million in losses.

U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. scheduled Dec. 10 sentencing hearings in downtown Los Angeles for Lin, who faces up to 20 years in federal prison, and Xing, who faces up to 40 years, prosecutors said.