Wednesday 28 October 2026Compiled from published reports. Every claim links to its source.

Ireland Crime

Every case followed from the first report to the sentence, or to where the reporting stopped.

Case No. 4504Money laundering, theft · Co. Dublin

Dublin businessman jailed over money laundering linked to iPhone warranty fraud

Chengwen Guo, 43, was jailed for seven years and nine months at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court after pleading guilty to theft and money-laundering offences linked to a €10 million "zombie" iPhone fraud. The court heard the fraud used fake iPhones submitted for Apple warranty replacements, with genuine phones then sent outside the EU for resale.

  1. Reportednot reported
  2. Arrestednot reported
  3. Chargednot reported
  4. In courtnot reported
  5. Verdictnot reported
  6. Sentenced25 Nov
reportedhappened, not reportedlatest stagenot yet

Key facts

consolidated from all reports
13 statements extracted from the articles
  • whatGuo was jailed for seven years and nine months over a money-laundering operation linked to an international €10 million iPhone fraud. (irishtimes.com)
  • whatFake phone components came from China and were given the IMEI number of a genuine iPhone when sent for repair. (irishtimes.com)
  • whatReplacement genuine iPhones were sent to Hong Kong for resale to countries outside the EU. (irishtimes.com)
  • whereGuo lived at Ivy Exchange, Parnell Street, Dublin, and owned a number of mobile phone shops called Murray Mobile. (irishtimes.com)
  • causeThe fraud involved sending fake iPhones for repair and claiming replacements under Apple's one-year warranty scheme. (irishtimes.com)
  • investigationGardaí began an investigation and searched all eight Murray Mobile shops on 10 January 2022. (irishtimes.com)
  • investigationThree sums of money were seized in January 2022, including €143,245 at Guo's home address. (irishtimes.com)
  • chargeGuo pleaded guilty to theft and money-laundering offences committed between 2021 and 2022. (irishtimes.com)
  • sentenceThe judge said the appropriate global sentence was seven years and nine months. (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe court heard that 10,158 phones provided to Guo were last active mostly outside Ireland. (irishtimes.com)
  • otherThe total retail value of the Apple products involved was €10,262,617. (irishtimes.com)
  • otherGuo had one previous conviction for having a false passport at Gatwick Airport in the UK. (irishtimes.com)
  • otherIn mitigation, the defence said Guo has four children. (irishtimes.com)

The reporting

newest first
  1. 25 Nov2025
    Sentencedirishtimes.com, first report
    Chinese businessman jailed over money-laundering operation linked to ‘zombie’ iPhone fraud

    Sentencing of Chengwen Guo at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. No existing case matches. The article also mentions a co-accused, Lukasz Lupa, sentenced last month, but he is not included as a person in this case.

    convicted, Chengwen Guo, 43, male, Chinese, named, non-irishChengwen Guo