A Chinese man spent years swapping fake iPhones for genuine ones at Apple. He earned $1 million and over 2 years in prison

The AppleInsider edition told an interesting story about an enterprising Chinese who was able to make a lot of money by deceiving Apple employees.

How it was

32 year old Haiteng Wu immigrated to the United States in 2013, graduated, got a master's degree and got a job. But, apparently, the official salary was not enough for him, so the man came up with a fraudulent scheme.

So, he received counterfeit iPhones from Hong Kong with fake IMEI and serial numbers corresponding to genuine Apple devices. Then Wu, along with his accomplices, returned fake smartphones under warranty and received original gadgets in return. After that, genuine replacement models were sent abroad, including to Hong Kong.

In addition to the conspiracy itself, Wu also obtained forged identification documents, opened several mailboxes to receive commercial mail, and arranged for participants in the scheme to travel across the United States.

In May 2020, the man pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud and stated that over several years of such scams, he was able to "earn" more than $1 million. He also dragged his wife into his scheme, who also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.

As a result, Wu was sentenced to 26 months in prison, which he has already served in custody. The court also ordered him to pay $987,000 in damages.

A source: AppleInsider