The scheme involved importing more than 10,000 counterfeit iPhones and iPads from China, United States Attorney Robert Brewer said in a press release. The counterfeit devices were intentionally damaged and exchanged at Apple stores for authentic products, which were then shipped to China and other countries and sold at a markup, according to the release.
Genuine Apple (AAPL) iPhones and iPads have International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) and serial numbers that are unique to each device. As part of the scheme, the counterfeit devices were equipped with IMEI and serial numbers that matched those of real devices covered by an Apple warranty in the US or Canada, according to the release.

"The manufacture of counterfeit goods -- and their use to defraud US companies -- seeks to fundamentally undermine the marketplace and harms innocent people whose identities were stolen in furtherance of these activities," Brewer said.
Using other people's IMEI or serial numbers is a form of aggravated identity theft, according to the indictment, because the perpetrator "knowingly and without lawful authority, transferred, possessed, and used a means of identification of another person, that is, telecommunication identifying information."
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The FBI's investigation took years and spanned across many jurisdictions.
The scheme allegedly involved 14 people who now face dozens of fraud, conspiracy, identity theft and money laundering charges. The FBI arrested 11 people but is still looking for three others.
The release noted that the bust occurred early Wednesday in San Diego, California, where law enforcement seized roughly $250,000 in cash and 90 iPhones that may be counterfeit.
It also noted that the alleged ringleaders, three brothers, were arrested with their wives. The brothers are naturalized US citizens born in China, according to the release from the US Attorney's Office in the Southern District of California. Most of the others allegedly involved are US citizens, naturalized from China, Vietnam and Russia.

The Mongolian capital has the most incidents of road rage in the world, according to an index compiled in the U.K. by Mister Auto, a supplier of car parts. Moscow, Karachi in Pakistan, Kolkata and Mumbai in India, and Lagos in Nigeria also feature in the top six.

Japan and Singapore have the fewest such incidents, with drivers in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Tokyo rated best.

Road Rage
Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia has the most incidents, Osaka the fewest

On the European mainland, Istanbul is the next-worst place after Moscow, with St. Petersburg also featuring as a road-rage hub of the region. The southern Italian port of Naples and the Irish capital Dublin are the continent’s next entries on the list. By contrast, Copenhagen, Oslo, Zurich and the Austrian city of Graz are relatively anger-free.

The Russian capital is notorious for its traffic jams. In 2018, Moscow saw more than 9,000 traffic accidents, leading to death of 465 people and injuring more than 10,000, according to road police. City hall has launched paid parking in the center, increasing fees for parking in the historic downtown, and narrowing some traffic lanes.

Don’t Drive Angry
Moscow is the road-rage capital of Europe

Mister Auto combined 15 factors, including road quality, fatalities, congestion and air quality, to rank the best and worst cities around the world for drivers. That overall ranking puts Calgary in first place, followed by Dubai and Ottawa.

“We have gained expertise and potentially after 2021–2022, when the main number of metros are completed, we can start building in other countries too,” Khusnullin said, adding that a preliminary agreement with the Chinese side has already been signed.

Since August 2017, CRCC has been building a 4.6km section and three stations on the Large Circle Line in Moscow, which will be completed by the end of 2020. In February, CRCC won another metro construction contract and is expected to start tunneling next month.

The Chinese firm may also invest around $1 billion in the construction of the first stage of Russia’s administrative and business center, Kommunarka.

The Moscow metro is one of the busiest in the world and is famous for its efficiency and elegance. It features some of the most beautiful stations, many of which are decorated with frescoes, marble columns and ornate chandeliers. It is one of the cleanest metros, with more than nine million passengers every day.

Opened in 1935 with 13 stations, it was the first underground railway system in the Soviet Union. As of 2019, the Moscow Metro, excluding the Moscow Central Circle and Moscow Monorail, has 232 stations (263 with Moscow Central Circle) and its route length is 397.3km (246.9 miles), making it the fifth longest in the world. The system is mostly underground, with the deepest section at a depth of 84 meters (276ft), one of the world’s deepest.

The Mongolian capital has been one of the most polluted cities for a long time. The situation has changed.

According to Greenpeace and AirVisual, 22 out of 30 most pollutted cities in the world are located in India. The first positions in the ranking belong to Gurgaon, India, which is home to 900,000 people followed by Lahore (Pakistan), Dhaka (Bangladesh), Djakarta (Indonesia), Mumbai (India), Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) and Tehran (Iran).

The Mongolian capital is placed among the cities of Osaka (Japan) and Vancouver (Canada) gaining the 64th place on air quality.

The World Health Organization says that 7 million people die prematurely every year due to polluted air in the world, and the World Bank estimates that the global economy is losing 225 billion dollars due to labor shortages.

The revised population projection of Mongolia indicated that the population is expected to increase to four million by 2030 and to five million by 2045. Notwithstanding the stable population growth, the number of older population will outgrow and the share of older population in the total population becomes 12.9 percent in 2030 and 16.3 percent in 2045, increasing twofold than today. In this regard, it is deemed necessary to take tangible actions promoting population growth, youth development and social protection.

As reflected in the projection, provision of social services to become more effective focusing on target group, pensions allotted from the social insurance to be raised annually to keep up with inflation rate and differences of pension benefits to be eliminated, followed by introduction of multi-layer pension system. In addition, youth employment to be supported through reduction of unemployment and poverty and implementation of policy to prepare on-demand workforce. Wages to be increased to satisfy for real living wage and lower income groups to be decreased by raising the minimum wage.

Other measures include establishing regional nursing homes for seniors and rehabilitation center for abused children, training center for specialized education organizations,service center for senior citizens in Ulaanbaatar city, foster home for children with special needs, research hospital for occupational diseases, children camp and child protective service center.

Exportation relationships are mainly with China, receiving 90% of Mongolia's exports by value and accounting for 60% of its foreign trade, while Russia is responsible for supplying 90% of Mongolia's energy requirements. Mongolia has begun seeking positive relations with a wider range of other nations especially in cultural and economic matters, focusing on encouraging foreign investments and trade.

The country's proficiency in math is another plus. This year, Mongolia ranked 26th in the International Mathematical Olympiad, just behind France and Canada, and up from 50th place in 2010. This should lead to a positive encouragement in white-collar industries, in a country mainly known for its agricultural activities.

The government is fully behind the blossoming IT industry. In 2018, it launched the Hub Innovation Centre, the nation's first facility that directly supports start-up businesses. It is also not hindering the industry with undue regulation, which essentially allows companies to use the country as a test bed before expanding overseas.

Please download our ‘Doing Business in Mongolia’ guide below for more information, and we hope you find it helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us on info@ima.uk.com

https://www.export.org.uk/…/Considering-exporting-to-Mongol…

Present at the opening were Parliament Speaker G.Zandanshatar, MP M.Oyunchimeg, Governor of the Capital City and Mayor of Ulaanbaatar S.Amarsaikhan and representatives of Citizens’ Representative Meeting of the assigned territory.

Speaker G.Zandanshatar emphasized, “I am happy to note about a great advancement of the capital – a commencement of the great construction that makes ger area living environment identical to apartment residential complex. Over 200 households will no longer use stove and chimney pipes. We see that as a result of intensive actions to reduce smog such as refined coal and construction of service center, we are able to spend this winter with less smog.”

MP M.Oyunchimeg said, “This project is the most optimal solution to turn ger area into a housing area in the future and create safe, healthy and ecological environment. This work has been funded with MNT5 billion from Ulaanbaatar municipality and MNT5 billion from China, to construct the infrastructure on 14-hectare area, which has been connected to the ‘Infrastructure center’. In addition, 1.5km roads were paved in four areas alongside the establishment of a wastewater treatment plant. We will work to implement this project in other khoroos.”

Within the project, 285 households of three streets of the khoroo have been connected to electricity, heating and sewerage lines, alongside the establishment of a wastewater treatment plant. Established with German technology, the plant is capable of purifying 530 cubic meter water per day with 99.9 percent purity and to be expanded further.

During the event, Governor S.Amarsaikhan said that the required financing has been reflected in the municipal budget 2020 to implement the project in other khoroos and districts in the coming years. He also informed that Ulaanbaatar Green Affordable Housing and Resilient Urban Renewal Projects is going to be implemented from next spring.

Following the opening ceremony, they got familiarized with operations of ‘Infrastructure center’ and wastewater treatment plant and visited a home of N.Otgon, beneficiary of the project. She said, “We have bought radiator, WC pan and sink, but all of other expenses have been funded with the state budget. It is so nice to live in such a comfortable environment connected to fundamental infrastructure in our own fence.”

Establishment of the infrastructure center contributes to reduce the number of chimneys and air and soil pollution, increase land value and creates favorable condition for households to live on their owned land.

Upgrading national brand ₮ card into EMV/NFC technology will greatly improve safety and security and be important step to introduce advanced solution of mobile payment in the future.

Within this framework, the BoM signed a cooperation agreement with Mastercard, leading global payments and solutions company, on November 12. Deputy Governor of BoM Mr. Lkhagvasuren Byadran and Co-President for Asia Pacific at Mastercard Mr. Ling Hai signed the agreement, with presence of authorities of the BoM, Financial Regulatory Committee, Communications Regulatory Commission of Mongolia, Mongolian Bankers Association banks and fintech companies.

In cooperation with commercial banks of the country, the Bank of Mongolia successfully introduced national ₮ card, symbolically named as national currency ‘Tugrug’, in 2012. As of the second quarter of 2019, the national ₮ card makes up 74.9 percent of the market, with the use of 2.7 million pieces in total.