Swiss family arrested for $1M counterfeit iPhone repair fraud
A mother and son in Switzerland are accused of passing off
fake iPhones in a $1 million warranty scam that saw them exchanged for real
ones by Apple.
In a similar case to one in Oregon in 2019, two members of a
Swiss family are accused of a scam involving counterfeit iPhones. Both face
prison and one could then be expelled from Switzerland.
According to Swiss broadcaster SRF's news site, a male
34-year-old Chinese resident in the canton of Aargau in northern Switzerland,
was receiving fake iPhones and taking them to Apple Stores. Presenting them as
faulty, he allegedly asked for replacements under Apple Care and received them.
He would then send the genuine iPhones on to a friend in
Hong Kong, where they would be sold. Reportedly, he did this repeatedly from
2015 to 2019. In 2016, the man's 56-year-old mother helped out, the court
indictment says in translation, "because the son didn't have time."
The fake iPhones typically had water damage that meant the
batteries appeared swollen, meaning an Apple Store would not be able to open
the casing. The phones also had the same Apple IMEI numbers as real ones that
had Apple Care, so they qualified for replacement on payment of a small fee.
SRF says that the man would each time pay Apple a fee of 99
Swiss francs, or approximately $107.32. Reportedly, the man or his mother would
then earn a commission of 10 Swiss francs, or $10.84.
Package seized
The operation was discovered by customs officials in the
city of Basel, who found two packages containing a total of 50 fake iPhones.
Officials estimate that the mother had taken phones to various Apple Stores 100
times, and the son a further 900 times.
This makes their total estimated commission from the four
years to $10,840. The Aargau public prosecutor's office is seeking fines for
both people, plus 18 months imprisonment for the mother, and four years for the
son. In addition, the son may then be expelled from Switzerland for a period of
seven years.
While the case is being brought by the local public
prosecutor's office in Baden District Court, SRF says that Apple acts
"acts as a private plaintiff." Apple is said to claim that the scam
cost the company $1 million.
Lawyers for the defendants assert that they did not know the
iPhones were fake, and that they trusted their Hong Kong friend. They say that
they believed these were real iPhones and that they were faulty because, quotes
SRF in translation, "Chinese people have problems with Apple's service
time and again."
The case is scheduled for Monday August 3 and Tuesday August
4.
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