CONCORD, NH — A Chinese national, currently living in Massachusetts, was accused of playing a role in stealing gift cards and purchasing Apple and other products to send overseas.
Jinbin Ren, 38, of Canterbury Road in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, was indicted on a single felony count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Ren and other nationals around the country and overseas were accused of acquiring gift cards stolen from victims through romance fraud, elder fraud, hacking, and other scams. Prosecutors alleged the conspirators then used the gift cards to buy Apple products and other high-value electronics and had them shipped to New Hampshire because the state does not have a sales tax. The same records alleged the conspirators used WeChat to coordinate purchases, sales, shipments, and payments through cryptocurrency.
Ren operated a Salem warehouse where the products were later shipped to China and Hong Kong, the indictment stated. Law enforcement searched the warehouse in 2024 and found iPhones purchased with gift cards stolen from American victims, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to previously published reports, they bilked victims of close to $5 million.
Editor's note: This post was derived from information provided by the U.S. District Attorney's Office and does not constitute a conviction. This link explains how to request the removal of a name from New Hampshire Patch police reports.
Ren faces up to two decades in prison, up to three years of supervised release, and up to a $250,000 fine or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.
Ren also faces receiving stolen property-$1,501-plus-criminal liability for the conduct of another based on an incident in Salem in April 2023 in Rockingham County Superior Court. A status conference is scheduled for July 28. He also faces theft by deception-resale, theft by deception-conspiracy, and two receiving stolen property-conspiracy charges, all felonies, in Merrimack County Superior Court, after incidents in January, April, and December 2023 in Concord. He was accused of acting in concert with Mengying Jiang, Naxin Wu, Mingdong Chen, and others to steal merchandise from Walmart in Concord and other locations using fraudulent gift cards, amass items in Salem, and ship them overseas.
The cases against Chen, Jiang, and Wu were transferred to the U.S. District Court, and they later pleaded guilty to the charges. In April 2025, Wu, who was illegally living in Nashua at the time, was sentenced to 33 months in prison and a year of probation, while Jiang, also residing illegally in Nashua, received 60 months in prison and a year of supervised release. Chen, who was illegally living in Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced to two years in prison and one year of probation.
All three face deportation back to China when their sentences are completed.
Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Concord Police Department are leading the investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander S. Chen of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Hampshire and Trial Attorneys Emily Cohen and Madison Albrecht of the Department of Justice's Money Laundering, Narcotics, and Forfeiture Section.
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