An illegal biolab in
California raided by the FBI in 2023 and a separate hazardous lab inside
a Las Vegas garage searched by the bureau this weekend are both tied to
a CCP-linked Chinese national currently awaiting trial for fraud, false
statements, and the adulteration of medical devices, according to court
filings, police officials and members of Congress.
Jia Bei Zhu was arrested in 2023 on allegations he was
running an illegal biological laboratory in Reedley, Calif. On Saturday,
the FBI and local police raided a similar biolab in Vegas, arresting
the home’s property manager, Ori Salomon (also spelled Solomon).
Police and lawmakers say the two labs are closely connected.
“An illegal bio lab was just raided in Vegas” and “it is
directly linked to the secret Chinese lab found in California in 2023,
which was oozing with E. Coli, HIV, and Malaria,” Rep. Kevin Kiley,
R-Calif., tweeted on Tuesday.
“The lab just raided in Vegas was operated by the same LLC and same Chinese nationals as the one discovered in Reedley,” Kiley said in a House floor speech. “Now we know there was at least one other such lab, but we still don’t know how many others."
The lawmaker described the biolabs in California and Vegas as “counterparts.”
A review by Just the News of federal court filings,
real estate records, and police documents shows that the Vegas property
featuring a garage filled with suspicious vials and biohazard equipment
has been listed as being owned by Zhu, an LLC founded by him, and/or by
his romantic partner and business associate who fled to China.
Congressional investigators allege
that Zhu (also known by the aliases of Jesse Zhu, Qiang He, and David
He) had significant connections to the Chinese Communist Party apparatus
and allege he ran an illegal laboratory in California that housed
approximately 20 types of infectious disease samples — including HIV,
Tuberculosis, and the deadliest known form of Malaria. It also allegedly
sold oft-counterfeit or Chinese-origin COVID-19 tests without a proper
permit, the investigators said.
The Vegas property raided by police and federal agents over the weekend was located at 979 Sugar Springs Drive — and ownership records
show it is run by David Destiny Discovery LLC, a company registered by
Zhu and now in the name of his wife and business partner Zhaoyan Wang,
who reportedly fled to China after police began investigating the father
of her child in 2023.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal shared aerial photographs clearly showing the property raided by authorities was the 979 Sugar Springs Drive address, and footage released by Las Vegas police also makes it clear that it is that specific location. Photographs of the house
on Zillow and Google Maps also make it clear it is the same address
owned by Zhu through David Destiny Discovery and managed by Salomon.
The Justice Department in November 2023 charged
Zhu with “distributing adulterated and misbranded medical devices” in
violation of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and for “making false
statements” to the Food and Drug Administration. A superseding indictment
in August 2024 also charged both Zhu and Wang with wire fraud and
conspiracy to commit wire fraud related to their alleged biolab scheme.
Salomon was arrested on Saturday by Vegas police as they searched the Sugar Springs Drive property he ran for Zhu, and he was hit with a state-level felony charge for the criminal “Dispose/Discharge [of] hazardous waste.”
The Justice Department on Monday also hit Salomon with a federal charge for the illegal possession of a firearm
while under a nonimmigrant visa after investigators discovered at least
six firearms at the Vegas property as part of their investigation.
Just the News has found that Zhu and his attorney
have been fighting unsuccessfully against his detention for more than
two years — often seeking to use the Sugar Springs Drive home in Vegas
as collateral to allow him to be released on bail, and specifically and
repeatedly naming Salomon as one of his proposed custodians to help
monitor him once he is bailed out.
Zhu remains behind bars, but the court filings help show
the close links between Zhu, the Sugar Springs Drive property, David
Destiny Discovery (also called “3D” by Zhu and his legal team), and
Salomon.
The filings also demonstrate the DOJ’s concerns that the
bail deal repeatedly proposed by Zhu is actually a scheme to help him
flee to China, which is where Wang jetted off to with their child
shortly after Zhu was raided a few years ago.
KLAS Las Vegas reported this week that “police suspect Wang has access to cameras monitoring the Sugar Springs Drive home.”
Police directly name jailed Chinese national as “suspect” in the Vegas case too
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Sheriff Kevin McMahill on Monday accidentally referred to Zhu as the prime suspect in the Vegas case, before saying that the prime suspect was actually Salomon.
“The main suspect in this case” is “the owner of the house on Sugar Springs Drive,” McMahill said at the Monday press conference
in reference to Zhu, before adding that “I’m sorry, that’s not the main
suspect, that’s the main suspect in the California case.”
“The primary suspect we arrested, however, is Mr. Ori
Salomon,” McMahill said. “His initial charge was a charge of disposing
and discharging hazardous waste.”
The police chief said Salomon is “believed to be the
property manager” for the two properties raided by authorities over the
weekend, including the Sugar Springs Drive home.
Las Vegas police said
onMonday that investigators “learned the property owner” at Sugar Hills
Drive “was connected to a 2023 illegal biological laboratory
investigation in Reedley, California.”
“Investigators have identified a suspect in this case as
the owner of the residence on Sugar Springs Drive. That individual was
already in federal custody on charges related to the investigation of a
biolab in Reedley, California in 2023,” Vegas police said
in reference to Zhu. “A second suspect, 55-year-old Ori Solomon, was
arrested in conjunction with this investigation. Solomon is the property
manager for the two properties on Sugar Springs Drive and Temple View
Drive.”
Multiple local outlets reported early this week that, after his arrest, Zhu made more than 400 calls to Salomon while Zhu was jailed.
KTNV Las Vegas reported
this week that, according to an investigative report, “Zhu and his
associates attempted to license a medical laboratory in Las Vegas” and
“investigators believe materials from that lab may have been taken to
other properties in Las Vegas linked to Zhu, including the home on Sugar
Springs Drive that was searched on Saturday.”
Salomon did not immediately return a request for comment
sent to him through the federal public defender assigned to him, and Zhu
did not immediately return a request for comment sent to him through
the Fresno attorney who has been defending him in court for years. Zhu
has pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing in the past.
Court filings show long link between Zhu, Cali biolab, Vegas home, and Ori
An extensive review of court filings show Zhu, through his
defense attorney, repeatedly sought to persuade a federal judge to let
him out on bail and to allow him to use the Sugar Springs Drive property
as collateral. The defense also repeatedly sought to have the court
allow Salomon be designated as a third party custodian for him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Barton said during a detention hearing
in November 2023 that “the government is not sure that he is married to
the son's mother, but he does have a relationship with her” and that
“it seems they share an address.”
“They are also listed as the principals on a company called
David Destiny Discovery, which the address for that company is a
residence in Vegas. It's the same residence that's listed on the newborn
child's passport application that Ms. Wang and Mr. He share,” Barton
said. “The Government believes that that business, to the extent that it
is an actual business, is operated out of that residence by them.
"And then, more importantly, from there, David Destiny
Discovery, based on bank records obtained by the Government — the
Government has shown that, just in the month of September of 2023 alone,
there has been over $250,000 transferred to David Destiny Discovery.
Those checks are being deposited by Mr. He into bank accounts that he's
on.”
The prosecutor said that “this company, David Destiny
Discovery, is currently the owner on … a house in Las Vegas valued at
approximately $800,000” and two condos in Las Vegas that together are
worth approximately $800,000.” Barton said that Zhu and Wang “are both
listed as principals or managing members of this David Destiny
Discovery, so the Government believes they control these properties and
assets.”
Barton argued that “the Government believes this shows that
He has control over these assets, even though they're in the name of
David Destiny Discovery” and thus that it was a “lie” when Zhu allegedly
claimed in his pretrial services report to only having $10,000 to
$20,000 in assets.”
Zhu’s lawyer filed an April 2024 motion pushing the court
to review his client’s detention, stating that “the defendant is a
Chinese citizen with a Chinese passport and lives in a house in Las
Vegas, Nevada that is owned by David Destiny Discovery” and that “Ms.
Wang states in her declaration that David Destiny Discovery, LLC,
invests in real estate with money from her family in China.”
“Ms. Wang also states in her declaration that … David
Destiny Discovery, LLC., 3D was established in 2022. 3D is engaged in
the sale, operation, and management of Las Vegas real estate. It is
registered in Las Vegas. Ms. Wang is the company manager,” Capozzi
wrote. “3D is willing to post two properties as collateral: 979 Sugar
Springs Drive, Las Vegas, Nevada” and a property in California as well.
Included in Capozzi’s filing was an exhibit which was a
declaration written by Wang (signed in Qingdao, China) which also
appears to have been submitted in Chinese.
“David Destiny Discovery LLC (3D) was established in 2022.
It is mainly engaged in the sale, operation, and management of Las Vegas
real estate. It is registered in Nevada. I am the company manager that
mainly invests in family funds from China,” Wang wrote in her
declaration, repeating that “3D is willing to post two properties as
collateral” including the Sugar Springs Drive property.
Barton along with U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert and other federal prosecutors filed a motion in response the same month.
“Zhu has maintained ties with China while living in the
United States. He owned and operated a business named Ai De Diagnostics
out of China since at least 2016,” the DOJ lawyers wrote. “Notably,
income generated from this Chinese-based business supplied the funding
for the purchase of the Sugar Springs Las Vegas property Zhu now offers
for bond.”
The federal prosecutors argued that Zhu’s Ai De Diagnostics
“also provided funds at various times to Zhu’s other businesses” —
including David Destiny Discovery — which are “businesses Zhu now claims
are owned and operated by someone else.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Henry Carbajal told the court during a bail review hearing in May 2024 that “the declaration submitted by Mr. Capozzi” from Wang “was executed in China.”
“We noted that Defendant still has the active business
interests in the Chinese company Adai and that that was the company —
one of the companies used to fund the purchase of the property — one of
the properties being proposed for bond, and the property that he
proposes to live in, which right now is a rental property,” the DOJ
lawyer said. “In fact, that business, that LLC, David Destiny Discovery,
owns about five properties. So, what's being offered is only a couple
of rental properties off of a portfolio of different properties.”
Carbajal added that “what Mr. Capozzi has submitted
indicates some change in ownership in David Destiny Discovery” but that
“Mr. Zhu — that's Mr. He — is still the registered agent for that
business even today.” The prosecutor added: “What it appears to be is at
the time of the first detention hearing, in the lapse of a few months,
steps have been taken to move Mr. He — Mr. Zhu as Mr. He — his name off
of these subsidiary businesses and into the name of Ms. Wang who is at
this point outside of the jurisdictional reach of the Court. So, I think
that's also very significant.”
In a transcript of a hearing
on Zhu’s motion for bail review in July 2024, Capozzi argued that there
are “conditions that would reasonably assure his appearance” and which
would allow his client to be released on bail. The defense lawyer
claimed that “he doesn't want to go back to China. If he did, I think
he'd be in deep trouble. He has a Chinese passport.”
Zhu’s lawyer then appeared to reference Salomon as Zhu’s “property manager.”
“He has a driver's license from Las Vegas. And the
collateral is in Las Vegas. He would live in Las Vegas. His third-party
custodians are in Las Vegas,” Capozzi said of Zhu. “One is his
longstanding attorney because his family is gone, and the other is his
property manager of the properties his wife owns in Nevada. I think
there's substantial collateral, a million and something. I forgot what
the number was.”
U.S. Distruct Judge Dale Drozd, one of the federal judges
who has handled the Zhu case, referred the “proffered third-party
custodians” being insisted upon by Zhu.
Capozzi said that “there's two” custodians being proposed
by Zhu, his lawyer “Mr. Lynn (phonetic)” and "Ari Solomon (phonetic),
both in Las Vegas.”
The judge asked what bond was being proposed by Zhu and who
would be posting the bond, with Zhu’s lawyer saying that “it would be
his company.”
When asked what their relationship was to Zhu, Capozzi said
that “his partner, his wife, owns this” and referenced the Las Vegas
property again as part of the “substantial collateral.”
Barton soon jumped in to call Zhu a liar once more, saying the defendant was misleading about his ties to China.
“The Government does want to address this asylum story. …
There is strong proof he's not telling the truth. This asylum
application is false. It's got false — demonstrably true falsehoods. The
Government has the application. We're happy to file it. We can file it
under seal. Defense Counsel was asked to sign a waiver allowing the
Government to show it in open court. Defense wouldn't sign that waiver,”
the prosecutor argued. “That asylum application has numerous falsehoods
about Mr. Zhu, about prior names used, about family connections, about
his prior travels to the United States, all lies. He is an incredible
flight risk.”
Zhu’s defense attorney filed yet another motion for review
of the detention order against his client in December 2024, and
specifically named Salomon and the Sugar Springs Drive property as being
a key part of Zhu’s argument for why the accused criminal should be
allowed out on bail.
“The defendant is a Chinese citizen with a Chinese passport
and lived in a house in Las Vegas, Nevada that is owned by David
Destiny Discovery, LLC. Ms. Wang states in her declaration that David
Destiny Discovery, LLC, invests in real estate with money from her
family in China,” Capozzi wrote.
The lawyer told the court that "3D" is “willing to post two
properties as collateral: 979 Sugar Springs Drive” in Las Vegas as well
as a home in California, and that “Wang is willing to post a ‘3D’
property in Las Vegas valued at approximately $850,000.” The lawyer
added that “Mr. He would propose to live in the 979 Sugar Springs Drive
Las Vegas, Nevada residence with an ankle bracelet, GPS monitoring, and
surrender his Chinese passport.”
The defense attorney added that “Mr. He would propose
having two third party custodians, Michael Lin, his Las Vegas attorney,
and Ori Soloman, the property manager of 3D properties in Las Vegas.”
In the same court filing, Zhu’s lawyer repeated his
proposal that “the defense would post David Destiny Discovery, LLC
property in Las Vegas, Nevada, at 979 Sugar Springs Drive, and as
collateral.” and that Zhu “would propose having two third party
custodians” — including Salomon.
Talbert told the court in January 2025 that the DOJ still opposed letting Zhu out on bail.
“Zhu again offers the same two properties as collateral and
the same two individuals as third-party custodians as he did before
without any explanation as to why the Court should believe the
collateral and custodians will ensure his compliance with conditions,”
the U.S. attorney wrote. “Zhu also does not address the conflict of
interest that is created by the fact the two properties are controlled
by his fugitive codefendant, Wang. This shows that Zhu has no viable
collateral or custodians who can vouch for him.”
The federal prosecutor added: “The fact that Wang continues
to pledge her properties as collateral for Zhu’s release, but refuses
to return to the United States to face the charges against her, is a
strong indication of what Zhu will do if he is released. He will almost
certainly run and hide with her in China. The Court should not let that
happen.”
Despite repeatedly attempting to use his Las Vegas property
on Sugar Springs Drive and Salomon the property manager as
justification to be allowed out on bail, Zhu remains behind bars in
federal detention ahead of his trial.
Despite Zhu repeatedly and publicly linking himself to
Salomon and the Vegas property over the years, Christopher Delzotto, the
special agent in charge of the FBI’s Vegas field office, said
Monday that “I don’t know that I can comment on that or if I have
knowledge of that” when asked if this house had ever been searched
before. He said it was searched now based on “intelligence that was
gathered” recently.
Inside the raid in Vegas: 1,000 samples, mysterious vials, biomaterial, hazmat equipment
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) revealed
Saturday that police and the FBI were “currently serving a search
warrant” at the Sugar Springs Drive home, noting that “as a precaution,
investigators on scene will be wearing protective gear in case hazardous
material is found inside the residence.”
The police said
later that day that “investigators discovered evidence of possible
biological material to include refrigerators with vials containing
unknown liquids.”
Sheriff McMahill said at a press conference on Saturday that “the warrant was related to information that a possible biological laboratory was inside the residence”
The Las Vegas SWAT Team “searched a home on Sugar Springs
Drive in northeast Las Vegas” while the FBI searched a separate property
nearby at the same time on Temple View Drive, although “there was no
threat found” at the latter location, the sheriff said.
The sheriff said “possible biological material” was found
at the Sugar Springs Drive location, “including refrigerators with vials
containing unknown liquids.”
“There’s a lot of questions that we have that need to be
answered and a lot of work that is ahead of us that needs to be done,”
McMahill added, noting that Salomon was taken into custody on Saturday.
The FBI’s Delzotto said the bureau deployed an evidence
response team unit, a scientific response analysis unit, and a technical
hazards response unit to assist Vegas police in the search and the
investigation.
Vegas police said
on Monday that “a little over a week ago, LVMPD received information
that laboratory equipment and potentially hazardous materials may have
been stored inside the home.”
The police noted that, in the connected California case
from 2023, investigators had found “potentially dangerous pathogens”
inside that bio lab, and so “while it was unknown whether similar
materials were present at the Las Vegas residence, the possibility
required LVMPD and partner agencies to proceed with extreme caution.”
The police said that LVMPD’s Counterterrorism Section and
ARMOR Task Force, in partnership with the FBI and regional fire
agencies, “initiated a joint investigation and extensive operational
planning to address the potential risk safely.”
During the early Saturday morning raid, “three individuals
renting rooms inside the home were safely removed and are not involved
in the investigation,” police said.
The “investigators focused on a locked garage believed to
contain the materials” and police said LVMPD “deployed drones for aerial
awareness and a tactical robot to clear the interior and conduct air
sampling before personnel entered.”
The ARMOR team then “entered wearing protective equipment,”
police said. “Investigators observed refrigerators, a freezer,
laboratory-type equipment, and numerous containers holding unknown
liquid substances.”
The police said that “evidence collection continued through
Sunday” and concluded that evening, and that “the materials were
transported to a Southern Nevada Health District facility for secure
storage and are now being transferred to an FBI laboratory for testing.”
Police said
that “some of that evidence included biological material and liquids
that were meticulously collected and sent to FBI labs for testing.”
Vegas police released a video
of investigators in hazmat gear entering and searching the property.
The video shows investigators pulling bags and stacks of vials out of a
freezer and a refrigerator in the home. The investigators can be seen
placing the vials in “Biohazard” bags and photographing and labeling the
evidence.
Video released
by the police also shows a four-legged “robot dog” approaching and
entering the home before human investigators did so. The video also
shows police drone surveillance of the home before and during the
search.
Sheriff McMahill said Monday
that Vegas police’s counterterrorism section and armed taskforce had
launched a “joint investigation” with the FBI leading up to the raid.
The sheriff said investigators found multiple
refrigerators, a freezer, and “other laboratory type equipment” inside
the Sugar Springs Drive property “consistent in appearance to the items
found and described in the Reedley, California lab investigation.”
Investigators found a "significant volume of material” in
the fridge and freezer “including various vials and storage containers
with liquids of different colors and compositions,” McMahill said.
"The scene presented a high level of complexity with
materials that have been yet identified and still require careful
assessment,” the sheriff added. “Some items appeared consistent with
biological and chemical storage.”
The sheriff said that there was now “zero threat to the public — it was all contained in that garage.”
The garage-based biolab had “left multiple people sick”
Fox 5 Vegas reported
that they had obtained court documents which showed that the biological
lab inside the Vegas garage had “left multiple people sick.” The outlet
said that a woman responsible for cleaning two homes managed by Salomon
said “the garage smelled like a hospital,” according to a court
document, and that the woman recounted that it was “not like a clean
hospital but more of a foul, stale, stagnant air smell.”
The house cleaner reportedly told police that she became
“deathly ill” with the outlet saying that “her symptoms included having
difficulty breathing, muscle aches, and being fatigued to the point
where she could not get out of bed.”
KTNV Las Vegas also reported this week that a woman who lived in the home "ended up in the hospital with severe respiratory issues."
It was reported
by KLAS Las Vegas that police received a tip that the home contained
“many dead crickets” and that multiple people had been sickened at the
property.
Inside the charges against Jia Bei Zhu and Ori Salomon
Zhu and his alleged co-conspirator — Zhaoyan Wang, his
business partner and the mother of his child currently hiding out in
China — were both hit with a superseding federal indictment in August 2024 after Zhu was initially arrested and charged in 2023.
The first count related to 18 U.S.C. § 1349
— conspiracy to commit wire fraud — with the DOJ alleging that “as a
result of the false and fraudulent representations that defendants Zhu
and Wang … caused to be made to the buyers” of “COVID-19 test kits” from
companies owned by the duo, these companies “sold hundreds of thousands
of the test kits and received over $1,700,000 in payments.”
The second through ninth counts against Zhao and Wang related to 18 U.S.C. § 1343 — wire fraud — for the aforementioned scheme.
The tenth and eleventh counts against the duo hit them with a charge under 21 U.S.C. § 331(a) and 21 U.S.C. § 333(a)(2) for the “distribution of adulterated and misbranded medical devices.”
The twelfth count was against just Zhu, and it was a charge
under 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2) for alleged “false statements” made to FDA
officials, with the DOJ arguing that Zhu lied when he claimed that “he
was not defendant Zhu aka Jesse Zhu and was instead Qiang He aka David
He” and that “did not know the manufacturing and distribution histories”
for his companies and “did not have access” to the “distribution
records, financial records, or ownership records” for the companies.
Zhu has pleaded not guilty. Wang is unavailable for prosecution as she is in China.
A court filing
by the State of Nevada on Saturday against Salomon — the property
manager for Zhu and Wang — showed he had been hit with a felony charge
under Statute 459.600.3.
The court docket says that “probable cause existed for the
defendant’s arrest” and that “the defendant’s biological specimen shall
be submitted to the appropriate laboratory for genetic marker analysis.”
Salomon posted bail on Sunday for a $3,000 cash bond, and he is listed as being due in court in Clark County in early March.
Soon after the raid of the Vegas property which he manages,
the Justice Department revealed in a Monday court filing that he was
also being charged federally under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(B) and 18 U.S.C. § 924(a)(2) for being a “prohibited person in possession of a firearm.”
The criminal complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, had its affidavit penned by FBI Special Agent Hannah Janousek.
Janousek said that Salomon, “knowing that he was an alien
admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa, knowingly
possessed” a number of firearms in violation of the law, including four
handguns and two rifles.
The FBI agent said that, during Saturday’s search, Vegas
police “officers observed a room that appeared to be an office space for
Salomon” and that the police found a French passport with the name “Ori
Salomon” and an Israeli passport bearing the name “Ori Solomon.”
The House Select Committee on the CCP’s 2023 report
said that Zhu was "a fugitive from Canada who illegally entered the
United States" and had "previously stolen millions of dollars of
American intellectual property." According to the report, after entering
the United States under his “David He” alias, Zhu formed new companies
with the help of an unnamed accountant who allegedly had ties to the
Chinese United Front Work Department and wider Chinese Communist Party
leadership.
