California man sentenced for swapping rare UCLA manuscripts with fakes

Scheme involved fake IDs, library cards, and trips to China

A California man who stole rare Chinese manuscripts from the University of California, Los Angeles library and returned forged copies in their place was sentenced Wednesday to time served and one year of home confinement, federal prosecutors said.

Jeffrey Ying, 39, of Fremont in the San Francisco Bay Area, pleaded guilty to one count of stealing a 17th-century manuscript dating from China’s Qing dynasty. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release, according to prosecutors. No fine was issued, and restitution has yet to be determined.

Prosecutors said Ying checked out valuable ancient Chinese manuscripts from UCLA’s East Asian Library using aliases and returned duplicate copies he created himself. Between December 2024 and July 2025, Ying is accused of stealing approximately $216,000 worth of rare and ancient Chinese manuscripts from the university, according to a criminal complaint.

The library’s holdings included Chinese pieces dated to 1393 and a manuscript published in 1575, though the document does not charge Ying with those thefts or specify what became of them.

An investigation began after UCLA library staff discovered that several recently returned pieces were fakes. Surveillance footage showed the same person checking out the missing documents. Authorities tracked Ying down and searched his hotel room near UCLA, where they found blank manuscripts and paperwork resembling 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.

Prosecutors said Ying traveled to and from China within days of the thefts.

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. Investigators also found pre-made labels used to create the dummy books returned to UCLA.

Authorities noted that until recently, UCLA had allowed the public to apply for a library card online without having to show government-issued identification, which could give access to the rare materials.