Chino Hills Ringleader Wenhui Huang Sentenced to 78 Months in $16.2 Million Apple Counterfeit Return Fraud
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced the final sentencings in a trans-Pacific Apple counterfeit return fraud ring based in Southern California. Wenhui Huang, 41, of Chino Hills in San Bernardino County, the group's ringleader, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $16,239,254 in restitution. Yang Song, 39, of Corona in Riverside County, the group's second-in-command, received 57 months and was ordered to pay $16,997,415. U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. imposed the sentences in August 2026.
From December 2015 to March 2024, the group worked with co-conspirators in China to smuggle counterfeit iPhones, iPads and other Apple devices into the United States. The counterfeits carried identification and serial numbers matching real devices owned by real people in North America and covered by Apple warranties and AppleCare+. The defendants returned the fakes to Apple stores claiming they would not power on or were damaged, received genuine replacements, and shipped the real devices abroad, primarily to China, for resale. Apple lost at least $16.2 million.
The defendants visited Apple stores across Southern California, including in Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, Irvine, Northridge, Manhattan Beach, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga and Cerritos, sometimes hitting 10 stores in a day, and rented dozens of UPS Store mailboxes to receive counterfeit devices from China and genuine replacements from Apple.
Four other defendants were sentenced earlier: Yushan Lin, 32, of Corona, to 18 months of home detention; Shuyi Xing, 36, of Corona, to 38 months; Zhengxuan Hu, 28, of Alhambra, to 24 months; and Junwei Jiang, 39, of East Los Angeles, to 36 months, each with restitution orders exceeding $16 million. Huang pleaded guilty in May 2025 and Song in June 2025. Homeland Security Investigations and IRS Criminal Investigation led the case, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Los Angeles Police Department.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：苹果零售店（资料图）。图片：Jorge Láscar，CC BY 2.0，取自 Wikimedia Commons
