Recently in Arcadia, Southern California, a shocking case of massive child abuse and human trafficking has emerged, causing a stir in society. A Chinese expatriate leader with close ties to the Chinese embassy abroad is accused of using his own surrogacy company to allegedly sell at least 21 American babies to China for profit.
This case has been classified by American law enforcement as a “dark scheme” related to China and escalated to a level of “national security threat,” attracting widespread attention.
According to the investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Guojun Xuan, 65, and Silvia Zhang, 38, who run the surrogacy company “Mark Surrogacy,” had repeatedly closed and reopened their operations. The duo is suspected of using surrogate mothers from various ethnicities across the United States to give birth to babies with American citizenship, and then illegally trafficking these children to China for profit.
The FBI described the case as a “dark scheme” related to China, involving the “trafficking of babies for profit.”
In a mansion worth about $4 million in Arcadia, law enforcement officers discovered 21 children, most of them infants and toddlers, with the youngest being just two months old. The legal guardianship of these children belongs to Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang.
The case came to light following a child abuse incident on May 7th involving a two-month-old baby who suffered severe head trauma and intracranial bleeding and had to be rushed to the hospital. Surveillance footage showed a nanny, Chunmei Li, violently shaking and hitting the baby until he lost consciousness, and Guojun Xuan and his wife delayed taking the baby to the hospital for two days after being informed.
Chunmei Li is currently on the run, while Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang have been arrested and released on $500,000 bail each.
The prominent figure at the center of the case, Guojun Xuan, has added complexity due to his background.
He is an influential pro-China overseas Chinese leader in Southern California, holding titles such as President of the American Xinjiang Chamber of Commerce and Honorary President of the United Chinese Association of Southern California. He has close ties with the Chinese consulate in Los Angeles and well-known pro-China overseas Chinese leaders, frequently attending various pro-China community events.
Amid external speculation that the case may involve human trafficking, Guojun Xuan claimed that they simply wanted a large family with many children. However, the FBI’s involvement suggests issues related to immigration and significant criminal activities, especially considering the overseas origins of Guojun Xuan and his wife.
Several surrogate mothers who had worked with the surrogacy company mentioned above have come forward claiming they were deceived. Kayla Elliot, a surrogate mother from Texas, believed she was helping infertile couples but discovered at 17 weeks pregnant, through social media contact with other surrogate mothers, that they were all carrying babies for the same couple.
Elliot told KTLA that she gave birth to a baby girl in March this year, but the couple’s indifferent attitude towards the baby raised suspicions. What shocked her even more was that the child she gave birth to had been taken away from the original couple in May.
Elliot is now raising funds through crowdfunding platforms to cover legal fees and fight for custody of the child she gave birth to.
Despite Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang being currently out on bail, they face serious charges such as child abuse. So far, six women have come forward with accusations.
Currently, the 21 children are under the custody of the California Department of Children and Family Services, and local police and the FBI are conducting a thorough investigation into the true motives and scale of this case.