A man from the San Francisco Bay Area has been charged with allegedly stealing rare and historical Chinese manuscripts valued at about $216,000 from the library system of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California on Aug. 7 announced that Jeffrey Ying, 38, of Fremont, had been arrested recently. Ying is charged with theft of a major artwork, a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Ying’s alleged scheme, as detailed in an affidavit filed with a criminal complaint, lasted from December 2024 to July this year.

He allegedly checked out rare manuscripts from the university’s library, took them home for several days, and returned counterfeit or “dummy” copies in place of the original books, according to prosecutors. The defendant also allegedly affixed the dummy versions with fake library asset tags.

The books targeted by the defendants were not in regular circulation due to their value and rarity, and they must be reserved to be viewed “on a specific date and time,” the court document said.

Ying allegedly used several aliases, including “Alan Fujimori,” “Jason Wang,” and “Austin Chen,” to check out the manuscripts.

“Ying generally travels to and from China within several days of the thefts,” the court document reads.

For instance, Ying traveled to San Francisco from Shanghai on  Dec. 13, 2024, and returned to Shanghai eight days later. The defendant also traveled from Hong Kong to Los Angeles on Oct. 15, 2024, and returned to Hong Kong three days later.

According to the court document, Ying also allegedly requested books from the University of California, Irvine, and the University of California, San Diego via the UCLA library’s system.

Eventually, the library discovered the counterfeit manuscripts and the missing originals, and contacted the UCLA Police Department, which, in turn, notified the FBI.

“UCLA staff reports receiving information that the name ‘ALAN FUJIMORI’ is associated with a known book thief responsible for committing similar theft incidents at UC Berkley,” the court document reads.

On Aug. 5, Ying arrived at a UCLA library to check out additional books and was subsequently arrested by UCLA Police, according to the court document. Upon his arrest, the police found a fake California identification card in the name of “Austin Chen” and two library cards in the names of “Austin Chen” and “Jason Wang.”

Law enforcement officials searched Ying’s room at a local hotel the next day and found “dummy materials such as blank manuscript books that appear similar in nature to the valuable ones” that he allegedly attempted to check out, according to the court document.

The court document names several Chinese manuscripts that Ying allegedly swapped with fake ones.

One of the books is “Shi Zhu Zhai Shu Hua Pu,” also translated as “Ten Bamboo Studio Collection of Calligraphy and Painting,” which was published in 1817. According to the court document, it was valued at $11,143.

Another book that Ying allegedly checked out and never returned is “Ou Xiang Ling Shi,” which was authored by Chinese scholar Miao Quansun and published in 1910. According to the court document, the book was valued at $5,300

Ying is expected to make his first appearance in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in the coming days, the Attorney’s Office said.

The Epoch Times was unable to contact Ying’s lawyer for comment.