US Man Jailed for Trafficking Fake Apple Devices, Costing $6M

Zhiwei "Allen" Liao, a resident of San Diego, California, has been sentenced to 51 months (four years and three months) in prison for orchestrating an international ring that trafficked counterfeit Apple products. The scheme defrauded Apple of approximately $6.1 million.

According to a statement released by the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of California, Liao's operation involved replacing genuine iPhones and iPads from China with counterfeit ones in the United States and Canada. This swap allowed Liao to profit from the sale of genuine Apple products in China while disposing of the counterfeit ones abroad.

During the investigation, authorities seized significant assets from Liao, including two houses, $120,370 in cash, and more than 200 Apple devices.

The scheme also involved Liao's brothers, Zhimin Liao and Zhiting Liao. Together, they imported counterfeit iPhones and iPads from China, which closely resembled genuine products. These counterfeit devices even bore identification numbers (IMEI and serial numbers) matching those of genuine Apple products that were under warranty and previously sold in the United States and Canada.

Once in possession of the genuine Apple products obtained fraudulently, Liao primarily shipped them to China, where they were sold at inflated prices.

Court documents revealed that the operation included over 10,000 counterfeit iPhones and iPads. Liao's associates, acting on his instructions, attempted to exchange these counterfeit devices for genuine ones at numerous Apple Stores across the United States and Canada.

The judge emphasized the severity of the sentence, citing Liao's role as the organizer and leader of a vast international criminal enterprise that had been trafficking counterfeit products for several years.

FBI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Stacey Moy commended the investigation, which began in 2019, as it uncovered a sophisticated multi-year scheme to distribute counterfeit goods worldwide. The success of the investigation was attributed to the diligent efforts of law enforcement partners.

This sentencing marks a significant milestone in the case, closing a major chapter in the investigation into the international counterfeit Apple product ring led by Zhiwei Liao and his associates