A man in Nashua, New Hampshire has pled guilty to transporting shipments of stolen Apple products worth $2 million. As announced by the United States District Attorney’s Office in New Hampshire, Guangwei “William” Wu accepted a bribe of over $700,000 and is pleading guilty to “the interstate transportation of stolen property.”
In New Hampshire, Wu owned and operated a transshipping company called Hai Xing Qiao. Last fall, the victim’s company purchased $2 million worth of Apple products and hired Hai Xing Qiao to forward the products to Hong Kong.
Simultaneously, however, another Hong Kong-based company, Yongfu Huo, paid a bribe of $700,000 to Hai Xing Qiao to have the products shipped to it instead of to the victim. Wu accepted that bribe. In essence, Yongfu Huo paid $700,000 to receive a shipment of Apple products valued at over $2 million, consisting of MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, and Apple Watches.
In an attempt to cover his tracks, Wu claimed that “law enforcement had seized the Apple products.” His company then sent a faked “Disclaimer of Ownership” document to the victim, purportedly issued by the United States Postal Inspection Service with a forged signature of a federal agent.
The charging statute provides a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, 3 years of supervised release, a fine of $250,000 and restitution. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case. As part of the plea agreement, the defendant is repaying $2 million in restitution to the victim.
Follow Chance: Twitter, Instagram, and Mastodon
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
