Two Men Sentenced in Apple iPhone Fraud

Chinese nationals Haotian Sun and Pengfei Xue were sentenced to prison for defrauding Apple of over 6,000 iPhones, causing a loss exceeding $2.5 million. The scheme involved submitting counterfeit iPhones with spoofed serial numbers for repair to receive genuine replacements. Sun received a 57-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay over $1 million in restitution, while Xue was sentenced to 54 months and must pay nearly $400,000. The fraud, conducted between 2017 and 2019, was uncovered by U.S. authorities, leading to their conviction for conspiracy and mail fraud in February. The case highlights ongoing challenges in combating sophisticated tech fraud, with Apple losing significantly in both intended and actual damages.