The 14 were charged with illegally accessing computer data at Foxconn, the Taiwanese company best known for making Apple devices. The convicts alleged used knowledge gained at the company to break into the iPhone network authentication server system to unlock the phones,according to Tencent Tech (as noted by BrightWire.com, a global investment newswire).

The group made more than CNY 3 million (about US$470,000) from the deals, the article adds. The convicts — who received fines ranging from CNY 20,000 to CNY 1 million — are from Foxconn's factories in the cities of Zhengzhou and Shenzhen.