An ethnic Chinese female real estate agent in California, Wanying Zhang, is suspected of being instructed by the Chinese Communist Party to monitor the son of Taiwan’s President, Lai Ching-te, and his family in the United States. Recently, she was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Currently, her real estate transactions are under tight scrutiny as she and her husband own seven residences with an estimated value of around $11 million. This raises suspicions about the source of their lavish lifestyle’s income, and the investigation has also led to more Chinese individuals being implicated.
According to a report by the New York Post on October 12th, 34-year-old Wanying Zhang (also known as Heather Zhang) resides in Irvine, Orange County, California, and works as a real estate agent along with her husband, Edric Ding, at JC Pacific Capital in Southern California.
The U.S. prosecutors claim that after Zhang’s arrest, she lied to the pretrial services department about the number of properties and assets under her name. She only declared one property, but the current investigation shows that she and her husband own seven properties with a total estimated value of $11 million.
Zhang’s lawyer, Craig Harbaugh, attributes this matter to a “misunderstanding,” but Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Elbogen told a judge in Los Angeles, “She is a real estate agent, she should know what properties she owns.”
The U.S. prosecutors allege that Zhang is suspected of acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government and, at the direction of Chinese individuals, traveled to Seattle, Washington in September 2025 to monitor Lai Ching-te’s son, Lai Ting-yu, and his family, transmitting photos, videos, and license plate information.
Zhang was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on October 4, 2026, reportedly preparing to board a flight to Shanghai. A judge subsequently deemed her a flight risk and denied bail; the case is currently ongoing in the judicial process.
Both Zhang and her husband are part of a real estate company and profited nearly $16 million just by selling their own properties. However, a colleague who works with them at JC Pacific Capital raised questions about the source of her wealth upon learning about her numerous properties.
“I was shocked to hear this news!,” said a colleague who preferred to remain anonymous to the New York Post after finding out about her extensive property holdings. “Earning that much money through commissions, becoming a real estate tycoon, is simply impossible. The average price for an apartment here is $1.5 million. Maybe she is really working for the Chinese government.”
The prosecutors also allege that Zhang has a secret Chinese encrypted cryptocurrency account with $190,000 in it, and she is “still profiting from it,” indicating her brother’s connections with the Chinese Communist government.
According to Zhang’s profile on the real estate website Zillow, she obtained a California real estate agent license in September 2016. Over the following decade, she handled at least 125 residential transactions ranging in price from $510,000 to $8.8 million.
Many of these properties are located in Arcadia, where former mayor Eileen Wang admitted in May this year to unlawfully acting as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party.
Upon closer examination of these transactions, California businessman Fatai Miao, of Chinese descent, was involved in a real estate transaction facilitated by Zhang, selling a $4 million six-bedroom mansion in Arcadia last year.
It is believed that the 54-year-old Fatai Miao is referred to as “Individual 1” in federal court documents, who accompanied Zhang to Seattle in September 2025, allegedly while Zhang was monitoring Lai Ching-te’s son. Surveillance footage shows Zhang traveling with a man in a car, taking photos of his residence and close relatives.
According to CBS News, Fatai Miao has not been charged with any wrongdoing, but he is a focal point of the FBI investigation into Zhang’s case.
Relatives of Fatai Miao revealed to the media that the construction industry entrepreneur has been in China caring for his wife receiving treatment there for the past two weeks.
On Sunday, federal agents with a search warrant entered an empty residence owned by Miao in Irvine.
Miao’s son, Jiaqi Miao, told CBS News, “On Sunday at noon, my sister and I received a call from someone claiming to be with the FBI, saying he had a search warrant. At the time, I thought it was a scam.”
“Then I checked the surveillance video at home and saw several government agents with guns outside. I tried to remotely open the door for them using an app, but it was too late. They had already broken in.”
Jiaqi Miao revealed that his father and Zhang have been friends for over a decade, with Zhang even briefly residing in his Arcadia property.
He insists that Fatai Miao is not a Chinese Communist undercover spy. “Honestly, I don’t think he’s smart enough to do that kind of thing,” he said. “He always follows others.” “My father is the only one in our family who chose to become a U.S. citizen. So I don’t think he has any reason to want to work with the Chinese (Communist) government.”
In another transaction facilitated by Zhang, a recent Chinese university graduate purchased a spacious six-bedroom home for over $3.5 million.
Neither Zhang and her husband, Fatai Miao, nor JC Pacific responded to the New York Post’s requests for comments.
JC Pacific previously released a statement saying, “JC Pacific is aware of the federal charges facing real estate professional Heather Zhang associated with our firm. We understand the seriousness of these charges and the public interest in this matter. JC Pacific will fully cooperate with federal authorities and respond appropriately to any legitimate information or assistance requests.”