Two Chinese nationals who attempted to bilk Apple out of 5,000 iPhones worth millions of dollars on Tuesday were found guilty of mail fraud. The Maryland residents, Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue, forged a scheme to trick Apple into exchanging genuine iPhones for counterfeit handsets sent in for repair.
During the May 2017 to September 2019 time period, Sun and Xue received shipments of fake iPhones from Hong Kong, then used spoofed serial numbers and/or IMEI numbers to return the handsets to Apple retail stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers.
The scheming duo submitted over 5,000 faux iPhones to Apple during the two-year period.
The pair have been found guilty of mail fraud and conspiracy to commit mail fraud and face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Sun and Xue will be sentenced on June 21, 2024.