Two Maryland men have received federal prison sentences after being found guilty in a scheme that cost Apple Inc. millions. Haotian Sun, 34, and Pengfei Xue, 34, both hailing from China, were sentenced to 57 and 54 months in prison respectively, for their roles in a fraudulent operation that led to the theft of over 6,000 counterfeit iPhones, according to a U.S. Department of Justice release.
The fraud, which took place between May 2017 and September 2019, involved the pair submitting fake iPhones to Apple for repairs to receive genuine replacements. In total, they attempted to cause a loss of around $3.8 million, succeeding in inflicting an actual loss of more than $2.5 million on the tech giant. Evidence presented at the trial indicated that the duo received shipments of inauthentic iPhones from Hong Kong, which they then passed off using spoofed serial and IMEI numbers to Apple stores and authorized service providers.
Their conviction followed after a jury trial that spanned over three days and concluded on February 20. In addition to their prison terms, U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly ordered Sun to pay $1,072,000 in restitution and Xue to pay $397,800. Both are also sentenced to three years of supervised release post-incarceration. The sentences were announced by several key officials including U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves and Special Agent in Charge Derek W. Gordon of Homeland Security Investigations Washington Field Office.
