Two Chinese nationals living in Riverside County have pleaded guilty to participating in a scheme that defrauded Apple Inc. out of more than $16 million through the fraudulent return of counterfeit iPhones, iPads, and other Apple products. Yushan Lin, 31, and Shuyi Xing, 35, both from Corona, admitted guilt 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 tied to a separate scheme involving over $1 million from elder fraud cases.
The case involves six defendants in total. Lin and Xing are the last among five charged individuals to plead guilty for their roles in the counterfeit device operation based in Southern California. The other four who have pleaded guilty and await sentencing are Wenhui Huang, 40, identified as the group’s ringleader; Yang Song, 38; Junwei Jiang, 38; and Zhengxuan Hu, 27.
According to court documents, from December 2015 through March 2024, members of the group worked with co-conspirators in China to smuggle counterfeit Apple devices into the United States. These fake devices were made to closely resemble genuine Apple products and included identification numbers matching those on real devices sold in North America under warranty coverage such as AppleCare+. By using these authentic serial numbers belonging to actual customers’ devices across the country, the conspirators deceived Apple into providing legitimate replacements or repairs under its warranty programs.
The defendants visited numerous Apple stores throughout Southern California—including locations in Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, Irvine, Northridge, Manhattan Beach, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga, Cerritos—and shopping centers like The Grove (Los Angeles), South Coast Plaza (Costa Mesa), Fashion Island (Newport Beach), and The Americana at Brand (Glendale). In some instances they went to as many as ten different stores when returning counterfeit items.
After presenting fake devices as broken or defective but covered by warranty—sometimes claiming issues like power failure or physical damage—the group would receive new or repaired genuine products either directly at stores or shipped later. They used dozens of rented mailboxes at UPS Stores across Southern California for receiving shipments from China and replacement devices from Apple.
Once obtained legitimately from Apple through fraudulent means, these genuine products were then sent on for resale primarily overseas in China or elsewhere within the United States.
Lin and Xing personally attempted at least 1,584 fraudulent returns resulting in more than $1.1 million in losses for Apple. Overall the conspiracy involved over 27,645 counterfeit returns with losses exceeding $16 million.
Sentencing hearings for Lin and Xing are scheduled for December 10 before United States District Judge André Birotte Jr., with Lin facing up to 20 years imprisonment and Xing up to 40 years due also to his involvement in money laundering activities.
Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation led the investigation with support from the United States Postal Inspection Service and Los Angeles Police Department. Assistant United States Attorney Andrew M. Roach is prosecuting this case.
