Chinese man accused of distributing illegal COVID-19 test kits to remain in jail

The Chinese resident arrested Thursday by federal agents for allegedly manufacturing and distributing COVID-19 test kits illegally, and then lying to investigators about it, will remain in the Fresno County Jail until at least Tuesday, when he is next scheduled to appear in court.

Jia Bei Zhu, who investigators said is also known as David He, is believed to have been the operator of a biological lab that operated illegally in Reedley after his company, Universal Meditech Inc., abruptly moved out of its industrial site in south Fresno in late 2022.

In a brief video appearance Friday afternoon in a U.S. District courtroom in Fresno, the 62-year-old Zhu wore a red jail jumpsuit and answered questions from Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto with help from a Chinese-language interpreter. He identified himself as David He – one of several aliases that investigators with the U.S. Food & Drug Administration said he has used.

Eric Kersten, an attorney with the Federal Public Defenders office, said he had spoken with Zhu earlier on Friday to generally advise him of the charges. He told Oberto that he was not representing Zhu, but said that Zhu had contacted his own out-of-town attorney who was trying to connect him with a criminal defense lawyer in the Fresno area.

Oberto briefly summarized the charges confronting Zhu: Distributing or receiving misbranded medical devices, and making false statements to federal investigators. She also noted the maximum potential penalties he faces if convicted:

• On the medical devices, up to three years in prison, a $10,000 fine, one year of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

• On lying to investigators, up to five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

Oberto also told Zhu that he had the right to ask federal authorities to notify representatives of his native China of his arrest.

Through the interpreter, Zhu said he understood what she told him.

Because Zhu does not yet have an attorney, Oberto postponed his arraignment until Tuesday afternoon to give him enough time to arrange for representation. She also ordered that he remain in custody at the Fresno County Jail, where he has been since he was booked Thursday afternoon.

Federal criminal investigators with the U.S. FDA arrested Zhu as he met with Reedley City Manager Nicole Zieba and city code enforcement officer Jessalyn Harper outside the warehouse at 850 I St. in downtown Reedley, where Universal Meditech and an associated company, Prestige Biotech Inc., were discovered operating without a city business license in December 2022.

City code inspectors shut down the lab and deemed the building unsafe to occupy in March 2023, based on joint inspections with Fresno County health inspectors and state and federal agencies that discovered hundreds of cases of test kits for a range of uses, including COVID-19 and pregnancy tests.

The inspections also uncovered dozens of freezers and refrigerators packed with various bacterial, viral and parasitic agents including COVID-19, chlamydia, E. coli, streptococcus, Hepatitis B and C, human herpes, HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), rubella and malaria.

Also found in the warehouse were about 1,000 experimental laboratory mice that were later euthanized because they were found in neglected and crowded conditions.

Over three days in July, Fresno County carried out an abatement warrant at the warehouse to clear out the various biological materials and medical waste, as well as containers and equipment that had been contaminated, according to court records. A total of of 127 containers of biological material and medical waste – each holding about 44 gallons – were removed.

State health officials also embargoed hundreds of boxes of medical test kits or parts to make test kits, including thousands of COVID-19 test kits that were manufactured by Universal Meditech despite never receiving approval from the FDA to make or distribute them.

Prior to its move to Reedley in late 2022, Universal Meditech operated legally in the central San Joaquin Valley, first in Tulare and later in Fresno.

The company manufactured and distributed COVID-19 rapid tests while it was in Fresno, but it did so without the required FDA authorization.

Universal Meditech issued at least two recalls for its rapid antigen test kits for COVID-19 marketed under the brand names Skippack Medical Lab and DiagnosUs, according to information from the FDA – one covering more than 209,000 kits in April 2022, and another in late December for more than 56,000 COVID-19 test kits.

The recalled kits were manufactured between October and December 2021 and distributed nationwide in January 2022, when the company was operating in Fresno – and after the FDA had rejected the company’s application for authorization to manufacture COVID-19 tests.