A Central California bio-lab operator and his partner face expanded charges including conspiracy and wire fraud according to a 12-count superseding indictment revealed by U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert. Jia Bei Zhu, a 62-year-old Chinese citizen, was previously indicted for distributing adulterated and misbranded COVID-19 test kits in violation of federal regulations and for making false statements to investigators about his identity and biolab involvement, according to The U.S. Department of Justice.
The indictment also names Zhu's romantic and business partner Zhaoyan Wang, 38, originally from China. Both operated the biolabs Universal Meditech Inc. (UMI) and Prestige Biotech Inc. (PBI) in Fresno and Reedley, where they allegedly engaged in fraud by misrepresenting the origin of hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 test kits sold between August 2020 and March 2023. The pair claimed the kits were manufactured in the U.S. when, in fact, they were imported from a company they controlled in China. Moreover, they were illegally shipped under the guise of pregnancy test kits, which they were approved to import, but falsely declared in customs.
UMI and PBI were also accused of making false claims about their production capabilities, stating they could produce up to 100,000 COVID-19 test kits per week domestically and that these kits were connected to labs certified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Moreover, Zhu and Wang incorrectly informed buyers their products were FDA-approved. These misrepresentations led to ill-gotten gains of over $1.7 million.
When buyers requested facility inspections, Zhu and Wang denied access providing various excuses — that the facilities were undergoing renovations, or that they housed proprietary and confidential information. However, the reality hinted at a different motive: Zhu and Wang did not want buyers to discover the true importation source for their COVID-19 test kits. Zhu is now detained awaiting trial, and though not in custody, Wang's legal challenges are just as serious. If convicted, the duo could face over 20 years in prison for the fraud-related charges alone.
This criminal case stems from investigations led by the FBI and the FDA Office of Criminal Investigations, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Arelis Clemente, Joseph Barton, and Henry Carbajal III prosecuting the matter. Zhu is scheduled for his next status conference on September 1. Despite the charges, it's important to remember that both Zhu and Wang maintain the presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
