Man sentenced to 4 years in jail for making Apple pay for fake iPhones 

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In an unprecedented scam, a man named Zhiwei Allen Liao has been sentenced to 4 years in prison for tricking Apple into paying for fake iPhones and iPads, costing the company over $6 million. The complex scheme involved manipulating Apple's warranty system to replace non-working fake devices with real ones.

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New Delhi,UPDATED: Mar 28, 2024 09:43 IST

In a never-heard before scam, a man tricked Apple by making the company pay for fake iPhones and iPads. He has now been sentenced to 4 years in jail. Zhiwei Allen Liao and his two brothers have been sentenced for running a complex scam involving fake Apple products. Liao will spend 51 months in prison for his role. This scheme cost Apple over $6 million in replaced devices and involved tricking the warranty system.

As per a report by Patiently Apple, the trio started by getting fake iPhones and iPads from China that looked real. They then put real serial numbers from Apple products onto the fakes. When they took these non-working devices to Apple stores and claimed they were broken, Apple replaced them with real ones under warranty. The fake ones were then sent back to China and sold.

This wasn't their first time pulling off such a scam. They had made about $1 million from a similar scheme before.

Liao was the main organiser of this fraudulent operation. He managed the flow of fake products and money amongst different people to avoid getting caught. This led to a long prison sentence, as decided by Judge Cynthia Ann Bashant.

One of the judges as quoted by Patiently Apple as saying stressed the seriousness of Liao's actions, saying he led an extensive criminal organization that trafficked fake goods across North America for years. Liao's careful management and attempts to dodge law enforcement made his role even more severe.

The FBI and the San Diego Police Department worked together to uncover the scam. They exposed how Liao and his group deceived Apple and others. Special Agent Stacey Moy of the FBI San Diego praised the end of the investigation, saying it shut down a big global counterfeit goods operation. "Mr. Liao's sentencing closes a major chapter in a multi-year investigation that exposed an international, elaborate scheme to sell counterfeit goods worldwide," said FBI.

As a result of his leadership in this illegal activity, Zhiwei "Allen" Liao will spend the next 51 months in prison. This marks the end of a significant part of the investigation into counterfeit goods trafficking worldwide.

Published By:

Ankita Chakravarti

Published On:

Mar 28, 2024