DOJ sentences pair for Apple repair scheme involving 6,000 knockoff iPhones

The U.S. Department of Justice Thursday announced that it has sentenced a pair of Chinese citizens residing in Maryland following a massive bid to defraud Apple. According to the officials, the scheme involved sending more than 6,000 knockoff iPhones from Hong Kong to the company for repair. With the help of spoofed IMEI and serial numbers, the pair received the genuine article as a replacement.

The DOJ states that Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue ultimately cost Apple more than $2.5 million. The men were sentenced to 57 and 54 months in prison, respectively. Xue was ordered to pay Apple nearly $400,000 in restitution, while Sun’s figure exceeded $1 million.