Two residents of Riverside County have admitted to participating in a fraudulent scheme that targeted Apple Inc., resulting in more than $16 million in losses for the company. Yushan Lin, 31, and Shuyi Xing, 35, both from Corona, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud. Xing also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering related to over $1 million from various elder fraud schemes.
According to federal prosecutors, Lin and Xing were involved in a large-scale operation where counterfeit Apple products were smuggled into the United States from China. The counterfeit devices were designed with identification numbers that matched real Apple products under warranty through Apple’s programs. These devices were then returned as if they were genuine and eligible for replacement or repair.
The group visited multiple Apple stores across Southern California—including locations in Beverly Hills, Pasadena, Irvine, and several shopping malls—to return the fake devices. In many cases, defendants visited up to ten different stores. After the returns or repairs resulted in genuine Apple products being issued by store employees or shipped after service center processing, these legitimate devices were sent abroad—primarily to China—for resale at a profit.
Lin and Xing personally attempted at least 1,584 fraudulent returns resulting in over $1.1 million in losses for Apple. The larger conspiracy involved more than 27,000 counterfeit device returns totaling more than $16 million.
United States District Judge André Birotte Jr. has set sentencing hearings for December 10. Lin faces up to 20 years in prison; Xing faces up to 40 years.
Four other defendants—Wenhui Huang (the alleged ringleader), Yang Song (second-in-command), Junwei Jiang, and Zhengxuan Hu—have also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation are leading the probe with assistance from the United States Postal Inspection Service and Los Angeles Police Department.
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