Two suspects are suspected of receiving $163,000 in refunds as part of a multi-state plan to purchase iPads and then return counterfeits in their boxes to Target shops in Eastern Washington.
They used stores in Kennewick, Richland, and Yakima, among other cities.
According to documents filed in Eastern Washington District U.S. Court, Zhangbo Liang was detained on September 30 in Mount Vernon, Wash., and Linda You on October 10 in Queens, N.Y.
On Thursday, You and Liang will make their initial court appearances in Spokane and Richland, respectively.
They are suspected of getting refunds for around 140 counterfeit iPads from Target shops between January and June 2024.
According to court documents:
On June 14, Liang surrendered two counterfeit iPads to a Target in Yakima. Their boxes contained iPads purchased two hours earlier at Richland Target with gift cards. The Yakima Target offered him two gift cards for over $2,400.
According to court records, Liang returned two counterfeit iPads to Kennewick Target on June 19 in cartons containing iPads purchased two days previously in Los Angeles with gift cards. He received gift cards totaling more than $2,600.
On June 21, he went to the Richland Target to return two more counterfeit iPads in boxes that had previously housed one iPad purchased the same day in Bozeman, Montana, and another purchased three days earlier in Huntington Park, California.
Liang received gift cards from the Richland store worth more than $2,400, which she used to purchase both.
Liang and you face charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, transportation of stolen goods, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and conspiracy to counterfeit products. They have also accused Liang of wire fraud.
Each of the crimes carries a sentence of five to twenty years in jail.
