Northern California Man Sentenced to 1 Year in Prison for Stealing Rare and Historical Chinese Manuscripts from University’s Library

LOS ANGELES - A San Francisco Bay Area man was sentenced today to 12 months and a day in federal prison for stealing approximately rare and historical Chinese manuscripts from the UCLA library system.

Jeffrey Ying, 39, a.k.a. "Jason Wang," "Alan Fujimori," and "Austin Chen," of Fremont, was sentenced by United States District Judge John F. Walter. Restitution in this matter will be determined at a later date.

Ying pleaded guilty in October 2025 to one count of theft of major artwork.

At Ying's guilty plea hearing he admitted that, from December 2024 to July 2025, he stole the rare manuscripts from the university's library. Ying rented the manuscripts, brought them home for days at a time, then returned a dummy manuscript instead of the authentic one. He typically then traveled to and from China within several days of the thefts.

UCLA's library system noticed that several rare Chinese manuscripts were missing, and an initial investigation revealed the books were last viewed by a visitor who identified himself as "Alan Fujimori." Due to the rarity and value of the books, they are not in regular circulation in the library and must be reserved and checked out.

Law enforcement searched Ying's Brentwood hotel room and found blank manuscripts and paperwork in the style and manner of the books that Ying had checked out from the university. Law enforcement also found pre-made labels known as asset tags associated with the same manuscripts that could be used to create "dummy" books to return to the library in place of the original books.

Upon Ying's arrest in August 2025, law enforcement 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."

The felony charge to which Ying pleaded guilty relates to his December 2024 theft of a 17th century manuscript dating from China's Qing dynasty.

The FBI's Art Crime Team investigated this matter with valuable assistance from the UCLA Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorneys Mark A. Williams and Dennis Mitchell of the Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section prosecuted this case.