The US Department of Justice reports another fraudulent scheme related to Apple products.
Scheme
The group was led by three brothers from China. A total of 14 people were involved. They come from China, Russia and Vietnam, with the majority having American citizenship.
The brothers' idea is not new:they brought counterfeit iPhones and iPads from China to the United States. Moreover, these were good fakes: each device had an IMEI and serial number that matched the numbers of genuine smartphones and tablets. Then they were taken out of service and taken to service centers, where they were exchanged for new (and genuine) gadgets.
After that, new iPhones and iPads were sent to China, where they were resold.
The group has been active since 2011. During this time, she caused $6.1 million in damage to Apple.
During the operation, FBI agents found 250 thousanddollars and 90 original iPhones that were preparing to be shipped from the USA. The Liao brothers now face up to 20 years behind bars and a huge fine. They are charged with 76 counts, including fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and identity theft.
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Let us remind you that in April we told you about a similar case: then two Chinese students, using the same scheme, defrauded Apple of $895,800.
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