Two Sentenced in Counterfeit iPhone Scheme That Hit Pasadena Apple Store

The Apple store in Old Pasadena was among the Southern California locations where two Chinese nationals living in the Inland Empire exchanged counterfeit iPhones and iPads for genuine devices in a scheme that cost the company at least $16.2 million, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Both men have been sentenced to federal prison in Los Angeles.

Wenhui Huang, 41, of Chino Hills, described by prosecutors as the group’s ringleader, was sentenced to six years and six months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr., who also ordered him to pay $16.2 million in restitution.

Birotte sentenced Yang Song, 39, of Corona, the group’s second-in-command, to just under five years and ordered him to pay $16.9 million in restitution.

Huang pleaded guilty in May 2025 in Los Angeles federal court to one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods, and engaging in a monetary transaction in property derived from specified unlawful activity.

Song pleaded guilty in June 2025 to 21 counts of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods. He also pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering in a separate scheme involving the funneling of proceeds of various frauds overseas.

The scheme operated from December 2015 to March 2024, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Counterfeit iPhones and iPads were imported from China and exchanged at Apple stores across the Southland for genuine devices, causing the Cupertino-based company at least $16.2 million in losses.

Court papers show the identification numbers and serial numbers on the counterfeit devices the defendants returned were designed to impersonate genuine Apple devices owned by customers throughout the United States, deceiving Apple into replacing the counterfeit devices with real ones under the company’s warranty programs.

Prosecutors say the defendants visited multiple Apple stores throughout Southern California, including in Pasadena, Beverly Hills, Sherman Oaks, Irvine, Northridge, Manhattan Beach, Brea, Rancho Cucamonga and Cerritos, and at shopping malls including The Grove in Los Angeles, South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Fashion Island in Newport Beach and The Americana at Brand in Glendale.

After returning the counterfeit devices for genuine ones, the defendants shipped the new devices to accomplices in the United States and abroad, primarily in China, where the genuine Apple devices were resold at a substantial profit.

Huang and Song are the final defendants to be sentenced in the long-running case. Four others were also convicted.