Reedley Lab Owner Staying in Jail as Feds Call Zhu a Flight Risk

A judge earlier today ordered Jia Bei Zhu – owner of the infamous illegal lab in Reedley –  to remain in custody until November 8.

During his arraignment in federal court in Fresno, Zhu was characterized as a flight risk by federal prosecutors; in response the judge ordered him to remain in custody until his next court date.

Zhu pleaded not guilty to charges of misbranding medical devices and making false statements to federal investigators.

Federal courts do not have bail per se, but “pre-trial release” can be granted under circumstances.

One of the circumstances it cannot be granted under is if the defendant is clearly a flight risk.

In Zhu’s case, he appears to be the very definition of a flight risk.  He has used multiple aliases in the past, is a foreign (Chinese) national, has a history of skipping out on court judgements, may have significant financial resources, and quite possibly has direct ties to the Chinee government.

Examples of the risk include:

• Leaving Canada after a total of about $300 million dollars in civil judgements were lodged against him for the theft of bovine fertilization technology from an American company  
• He has significant (ownership?) ties to multiple Chinese companies and was reportedly (according to his then lawyer) in China recently
• A different American company that got a different civil judgement against him for selling faulty/unlicensed COVID tests was allowed to put an ad in a Fresno newspaper as “proof of service” of the judgment (that is something courts very very rarely do) when he could not be tracked down for traditional service
• When he was arrested in Reedley Thursday – when he inexplicably agreed to an on-site meeting with City Manager Nicole Zieba to discuss a $30 million dollar claim he filed against the city – he was carrying an expired Canadian drivers license in the name of one of his many aliases.

In other words, a flight risk

The illegal lab was discovered early this year and raided in March by the city and state and federal health agencies.  Inside they found nearly 1,000 dead and dying mice, tens of thousands of COVID and pregnancy test kits, various biological material like blood and tissues samples, and vials and containers marked to indicate they contained other pathogens, including malaria and HIV. 

Illegal Reedley COVID Lab Owner Arrested

Initially, Zhu told authorities he was the main creditor to a Fresno company called Universal Meditech and that he was merely storing their equipment until they moved into a new facility.  It was later discovered he was involved in the ownership of that company, too.

In other words, he’s been lying about his identity, position, responsibilities, and presumably finances from day one.

Again, a flight risk.

Zhu has retained noted Fresno white collar crime attorney Anthony Capozzi.  Capozzi is well known around Fresno, having once stood for mayor and for his appearances as a legal analyst on ABC30 TV.

In fact, Capozzi told ABC30 after the hearing that he thinks the case is “probably more of a misunderstanding than anything else.  He’s been working for a company that has tried to develop and do some research, and the government came in and seized all of the research that he had and destroyed it.”

Capozzi also lamented the political overtones of the situation.

“I think the politicians have blown this out of proportion. This is not as big of a case as the government, may not be the government, but politicians are portraying it to be,” said Capozzi.