California man in elaborate plot for stealing rare Chinese manuscrpts from UCLA library sentenced

LOS ANGELES — A man who admitted to stealing rare historical Chinese manuscripts from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) library and replacing them with fake documents was sentenced by the US Department of Justice on Wednesday. Jeffrey Ying, a 39-year-old resident of Fremont, in the San Francisco Bay Area, pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one felony count of theft of a major artwork after he stole $216,000 worth of books and manuscripts from the UCLA library between December 2024 and July 2025. The elaborate plot included faux names on library cards and a host of equipment that prosecutors say he used to create forged copies.Ying was sentenced to time served, accounting for approximately one month in jail, and one year of home confinement. The 39-year-old was also sentenced to three years of supervised release. While there was no fine issued, restitution is yet to be determined.Prosecutors say he rented pieces of ancient literature from UCLA library and returned faux duplicates. They said Ying would travel to and from China within days of the thefts.The UCLA Library, which has an expansive collection of rare books and artwork, uncovered the plot after several recently returned pieces were found to be fakes.An investigation found that the documents were checked out using aliases that were later found to be Ying’s — Jason Wang, Alan Fujimori and Austin Chen.Surveillance footage showed that the missing documents were checked out by the same person.Authorities tracked Ying down and searched his hotel room near UCLA where they found blank manuscripts and paperwork that resembled the style of the books he had checked out. Prosecutors said the items were used to “create ‘dummy’ books to return to the library in place of the original books,” according to an arrest affidavit.Between December 2024 and July 2025, Ying is accused of stealing approximately $216,000 (£161,300) worth of rare and ancient Chinese manuscripts from UCLA, according to a criminal complaint.The literature included valuable Chinese pieces dated to 1393 and another published in 1575. The document does not outline what happened to these pieces, nor does it charge Ying with the thefts.Ying pleaded guilty to one count of stealing a 17th Century manuscript dating from China’s Qing dynasty.At the time of Ying’s arrest in August 2025, authorities found a fraudulent California identification card in the name of Austin Chen, along with two library cards in the names of Austin Chen and Jason Wang.Authorities noted that until recently, the university had allowed the public to apply for a library card, which could give access to the rare materials, online without having to show any form of government-issued identification.