Alhambra resident who defrauded Apple Inc. sentenced to federal prison

LOS ANGELES (KESQ) - A Chinese national living in the San Gabriel Valley was sentenced to two years behind bars today for participating in a scheme in which counterfeit iPhones and iPads were imported from China and exchanged at Apple stores across the Southland for genuine devices, causing the tech company at least $16.2 million in losses.   

Zhengxuan Hu, 28, of Alhambra, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge André Birotte Jr. to pay a share of $16.2 million in restitution to Apple.   

Hu pleaded guilty in August 2025 to one federal count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud.  

Five other defendants also pleaded guilty in Los Angeles federal court and await sentencing.  

The real identification numbers and serial numbers on the counterfeit devices that the defendants returned were designed to impersonate genuine Apple devices owned by customers throughout the United States -- and therefore deceived Apple into replacing the counterfeit devices with real ones under Apple's warranty programs, court papers show.  

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

After successfully returning the counterfeit devices for genuine ones, the defendants were accused of shipping the new devices to co-conspirators both in the United States and abroad, primarily in China, where the genuine Apple devices were resold at a substantial profit.

Cupertino-based Apple said the scheme caused the company at least $16.2 million in losses.  

Birotte Jr. scheduled a March 27 sentencing hearing for Wenhui Huang, 41, of Chino Hills, the group's ringleader.