Attorney General Kamala D. Harris announced yesterday the arraignment of two individuals who allegedly bought stolen smartphones in California to sell in Hong Kong.
The defendants, Shou Lin Wen, 39, and Yuting Tan, 27, both from Sacramento, were arrested on March 6 and arraigned on eight felony counts of money laundering, grand theft, possession of stolen property and conspiracy. They are being held in Sacramento County Jail on $1 million bail each.
According to the arrest warrant, co-conspirators told individuals from homeless shelters to purchase multiple smart phones, including the Apple iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy and Blackberry, then had the individuals deliver the phones to the co-conspirators with promise of payment.
Allegedly, the straw purchasers never intended to complete payment through the contract, which under California law makes the phones considered stolen property.
Hundreds of the stolen phones were sent to Wen and Tan, who then shipped the phones to Hong Kong. Special agents from the eCrime Unit intercepted four of the 110 parcels shipped to Hong Kong over the past year.
Undercover eCrime agents offered to sell 408 "stolen" iPhone 4s and 5s to Wen and Tan. When the defendants produced over $60,000 to purchase 163 of the phones, they were arrested.
The defendants self-reported gross sales of $3,948,485 over an eight-month period.
