A man from Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area has been charged with stealing rare and historical Chinese manuscripts valued at about $216,000 from a university library system, according to an announcement by the Justice Department.
Jeffrey Ying, 38, also known as “Jason Wang,” “Alan Fujimori,” and “Austin Chen,” faces a federal felony charge of theft of major artwork. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in federal prison.
Ying is currently in state custody and is expected to make his first appearance in United States District Court in Los Angeles soon.
An affidavit filed with the complaint states that between December 2024 and July 2025, Ying checked out rare manuscripts from the university’s library, took them home for several days, then returned dummy versions instead of the originals. The affidavit alleges that after these incidents, Ying typically traveled to and from China within days of each theft.
The missing manuscripts were noticed by library staff who discovered that they had last been viewed by someone using the name “Alan Fujimori.” Because of their rarity and value, these books are not available for regular circulation; they must be specially reserved and checked out.
Law enforcement officers searched Ying’s hotel room in Brentwood and found blank manuscripts and paperwork resembling those checked out from the university. They also found pre-made asset tags matching those used on the stolen manuscripts—materials that could be used to create fake books to return to the library instead of the authentic ones.
When Ying was arrested on Monday, authorities recovered a fraudulent California identification card under the name “Austin Chen” along with two library cards issued under the names “Austin Chen” and “Jason Wang.”
“A criminal complaint contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.”
The FBI’s Art Crime Team is leading the investigation with assistance from the UCLA Police Department.
“Assistant United States Attorney Mark A. Williams of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section is prosecuting this case.”
