STAFFORD, Va. — Three New York City men were arrested in Virginia for retail fraud.
According to police, the men were running a retail fraud scheme across multiple states. On Tuesday, deputies found the three men at the Target in Stafford Market Place. The group is suspected of purchasing several Apple products, replacing them with cheap replicas, and taking them back to the store for a full refund or gift card.
Once the group obtained the replicas, they would place them inside the original Apple product box, repackage them, apply a new security tag, and then complete the return.
It is unclear how long the group has been running this scheme, but it seems police have been searching for them for a while. Deputies learned the group was at Target running their typical scheme and were able to arrest one of the suspects after he completed a fraudulent transaction.
A second suspect tried to flee when he saw his friend being arrested but was caught at the entrance. A third suspect made it as far as the parking lot, but was captured before he could get to the car.
Stafford County Police say they seized $91,413 worth of stolen Apple products from the men. The stash included 96 iPads, 37 AirPods, and 13 Apple Watches. Officers also seized the counterfeit products the trio was swapping the originals out for including: 87 AirPods, 49 watch bands, 9 iPads, and 44 series 9 Apple Watches.
The suspects have been identified as 24-year-old Rui Lin, 24-year-old Sheng Chen, and 23-year-old Hong Liu. The trio have been charged with obtaining money by false pretenses, conspiracy, possession of stolen property with intent to sell, and possession of controlled substances. They’re currently being held at Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond.