The California Overseas Leader, Guojun Xuan, who is suspected of large-scale surrogacy and child abuse, was denied his request for release on bail without bond by a judge due to concerns over his health conditions being critical. The judge maintained the bail amount for both Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang at $20 million each. The prosecution reiterated the high risk of flight for both individuals.
Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang, who reside in Arcadia, Southern California, were arrested on October 6 on serious charges, with more charges and evidence related to the case gradually coming to light. Initially, the prosecution sought a bail amount of $100 million for both individuals.
During the hearing on Friday, Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang’s attorneys submitted an OR Request for release without bond, but Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Carolina Lugo rejected their applications and declined to reduce the bail amount.
Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri, who is responsible for prosecuting the case, submitted three documents to the judge on Friday, including the defendants’ investment account statements and photos of Guojun Xuan’s three passports.
She stated that during the search of the mansion, another safe was found and forcibly opened, revealing three more passports belonging to Guojun Xuan: a Chinese passport, a Mexican passport, and a second valid US passport.
After discussions with law enforcement, she informed the judge that Guojun Xuan’s Mexican passport bore the Spanish surname “Lazano.” Despite these passports being confiscated, the prosecution remains concerned that the defendants may have hidden passports elsewhere, obtained new passports through financial means, or used different names to apply for other passports.
The prosecution argued in the bail motion that the defendants have the capability to easily send others to China. They believe that the nanny, Chunmei Li, who is implicated in child abuse and related to this case, is still in China.
Teymouri further added that on May 7 of last year, on the morning law enforcement officers went to the residence, surveillance footage showed Guojun Xuan making Chunmei Li write something down and taking a photo of her passport. Information gathered by the prosecution indicated that Chunmei Li first went to Tijuana, Mexico, and then returned to China.
This highly publicized case surfaced unexpectedly in May last year when a two-month-old baby was urgently hospitalized due to head injuries. The incident revealed that Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang were housing 21 children in a mansion worth about $4 million.
Court documents show that Silvia Shasha Zhang has a 14-year-old biological daughter with a previous partner, while Guojun Xuan has a biological child around 7 years old with a former partner. The other 19 children were born to different surrogates, but both individuals hold legal guardianship over them.
Los Angeles County Prosecutor Nathan Hochman previously stated that the mansion was equipped with 32 cameras to monitor the children and the nanny, with at least 15 children repeatedly subjected to physical abuse.
On Friday, Guojun Xuan’s defense attorney, Mitchell Krems, and Silvia Shasha Zhang’s defense attorney, Matt Koohanim, refuted the prosecution’s charges, asserting that the defendants have no intention of fleeing and pose no threat to the community, committing to showing up for court on time.
The attorneys mentioned that both parties were arrested in May last year, and it has been 17 months since then, during which they have not left the US and have no prior criminal convictions.
Guojun Xuan, wearing a mask and sitting in a wheelchair, was escorted to court that day. Krems specifically highlighted Guojun Xuan’s extremely critical health condition, stating that apart from recovering from surgery, he has wounds on his chest and pus oozing from a wound on the back of his head, requiring large amounts of medication and long-term wheelchair use.
“His condition is very precarious, and he may die in custody,” Krems said.
Koohanim, the attorney, added that his client, Silvia Shasha Zhang, only holds a US passport and not a Chinese passport, and her biological daughter is currently in the custody of Child Protective Services (CPS). Even if released, she would not leave the US and abandon her daughter.
He stated that Silvia Shasha Zhang and Guojun Xuan have no relationship as implied by the prosecution, at most having a professional assistance and employment relationship. “My client is not the mother of these children, nor are they their biological mother,” he emphasized, and argued that the mentioned child injury events do not directly prove to have been caused by Silvia Shasha Zhang.
The attorneys informed the judge that if released, the two individuals are willing to wear electronic ankle monitors, be under home confinement, or accept other restrictions to ensure their timely appearances in court. Thus, they hoped the judge would allow for the defendants’ release without bond or significantly reduce the bail amount.
Teymouri reiterated the experiences of the children under 5 during the hearing. She mentioned that the 32 surveillance cameras in the mansion would activate upon detecting any movement.
According to the charges in the indictment, Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang would monitor the nanny disciplining the children in three “learning centers.” The prosecution argued that the so-called discipline actually consisted of severe physical abuse happening daily, including beatings and punishments.
Teymouri shared that often the children would be scolded by the nanny for simple actions like improper posture, not sitting up straight, or failing to place both hands on the table.
The prosecution alleged that the nanny would use sticks to hit the children’s faces, heads, and backs, sometimes kicking and roughly throwing them onto the table. Surveillance footage showed instances where a child was hit more than 100 times at once. During the search of the residence, law enforcement found sticks used to hit the children.
The prosecution believed that the abuse persisted, with Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang watching all the footage on large screens. Some conversation recordings indicated that they would instruct the nanny to avoid leaving clear traces of injuries on the children or demand more severe beatings and stricter discipline.
Following police intervention in the investigation, the children were taken into government care. Teymouri stated that during a supervised visit, Guojun Xuan attempted to take the children away when there was no one present, but was timely discovered and stopped by staff.
Teymouri informed the judge that the relationship between Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang goes deep, with Guojun Xuan involving about 200 bank accounts and approximately 70 company bank accounts. Silvia Shasha Zhang was a signatory for some accounts and participated in fund transfers.
In the bail motion, she mentioned that the amount in one investment account exceeded $70 million. Some of these accounts were registered under other individuals’ names, including relatives living outside the US.
Furthermore, during the search of the mansion, law enforcement also discovered assets worth tens of millions of dollars, $5 million investment reports, millions of dollars in investments, bags of cash, and hidden antiques and large jade carvings inside the mansion valued at approximately $8-9 million. Additionally, there was a warehouse room storing over $1 million worth of alcohol, mostly Chinese liquor.
After hearing statements from both sides, the judge rejected the motion for Guojun Xuan and Silvia Shasha Zhang’s release without bond and the reduction of bail, ruling to maintain the bail amount at $20 million each.
Simultaneously, the judge stated that the Sheriff’s Department would monitor Guojun Xuan’s health. Medical records indicate that he has undergone multiple medical evaluations and treatments.
Koohanim told reporters that while the motion was rejected, it does not mean the two cannot be released. “As long as they have enough money to post bail, they can be released at any time.”
The prosecution requested that in the future should they be released, the two individuals are not to possess firearms, have no contact with children, surrender all travel documents, accept GPS electronic monitoring, not leave Los Angeles County without permission, and refrain from contacting any surrogacy agencies during the trial.