FBI Arrests Irvine Realtor at LAX as Unregistered Agent of China
The FBI arrested 34-year-old Irvine real estate agent Wanying Zhang, also known as Heather, at Los Angeles International Airport on Oct. 4 as she prepared to board a flight to Shanghai. Federal prosecutors charged her in a criminal complaint with acting as an unregistered agent of the People's Republic of China.
According to the Justice Department complaint, Zhang traveled to Seattle in 2025 at the direction of Chinese officials, surveilled the home of Lai Ting-yu, a son of Taiwan's leader Lai Ching-te, and sent back photos, video, and license plate information. The complaint says she coordinated the trip with an associate, used tradecraft to avoid detection, and never notified the Attorney General that she was acting for a foreign government, as the law requires.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli publicly confirmed the arrest on Sunday, and FBI Director Kash Patel also issued a statement. The complaint says Zhang's WeChat exchanges with an alleged Chinese official date back to September 2022. Her husband, Edric Ding, a realtor at the same firm, told CBS News he did not know anything yet.
Zhang has only been charged, not convicted, and is presumed innocent. She is scheduled to make her first appearance in Los Angeles federal court on Monday, Oct. 5. It was not immediately clear whether she has an attorney. The Chinese embassy in Washington and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The case follows a similar one in March, when former Arcadia mayor Eileen Wang pleaded guilty in federal court to spying for China. (Sources: Reuters, CBS News, Fox News, the New York Post, and the U.S. Department of Justice complaint.)
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 张婉颖证件照片：美国联邦检察官办公室（加州中区）2026年10月4日公开发布，公有领域（Wikimedia Commons）。被告目前仅受指控、尚未定罪。Photo released by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California (public domain); the defendant is charged only and presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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- 2026-10-23Follow-Up: Zhang Wanying Pleads Not Guilty in Los Angeles: Trial Set for November 30 in Alleged Unregistered Chinese Agent Case
