Jia Bei Zhu, 62, is a citizen of China. He formerly resided in Clovis, Fresno County, California, United States.
Between December 2020 and March 2023, Zhu and others allegedly manufactured, imported, sold and distributed hundreds of thousands of new coronavirus (COVID-19) test kits in addition to test kits for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), pregnancy, clinical urinalysis and other conditions in China and the U.S. They allegedly did so through the companies Universal Meditech Incorporated (UMI) and Prestige Biotech Incorporated (PBI), which were based in Fresno, Fresno County and Reedley, Fresno County.
Neither UMI not PBI obtained the required authorizations to manufacture and distribute the test kits and mislabeled some of the test kits. When questioned by Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials, Zhu made false statements about his identity, his ownership and control of the two companies and the activities of the companies.
According to a recent lawsuit claim, Zhu owned a illegal bio lab in Reedley. The lab received $150,000 in Paycheck Protection Progam loans from the U.S. government.
In March 2023, the lab was shut down. The public found out about it only in July 2023.
The city of Reedley asked Zhu to meet at the site of the lab in connection to the claim. On October 18, 2023, he showed up at the lab site and was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents.
Zhu is also known as Jesse Zhu, Qiang He and David He. At 2:00 p.m. on October 20, 2023, he will make his initial appearance in court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sheila K. Oberto in Fresno, Fresno County.
CONAN Daily 