FRESNO, Calif. — The owner of a Fresno-based biotech company was found guilty of fraudulently selling $4 million worth of unauthorized COVID tests in the United States and lying to federal investigators.

Jia Bei Zhu, 64, of China, was convicted after a two-week trial in U.S. District Court in Sacramento.

The jury found him guilty of 12 counts, including one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of substantive wire fraud, two counts of distributing adulterated and misbranded medical devices, and one count of making a false statement to the FDA.

Zhu faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for conspiracy and the wire fraud charges; three years for distribution of adulterated and misbranded medical devices and five years for making false statements. He will be sentenced on Aug. 24 before U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd.

Zhu’s company, Universal Meditech Inc., came under suspicion from federal and state health officials after its laboratory in Reedley was inspected by city code inspectors in December 2022.

Inspectors were stunned to discover the warehouse contained dozens of freezers and refrigerators full of various bacterial, viral and parasitic agents including COVID-19, chlamydia, E. coli, streptococcus, Hepatitis B and C, human herpes, HIV (the virus that causes AIDS), rubella and malaria.

Federal investigators also determined that the company made and distributed COVID-19 rapid tests without the required FDA authorization.

“This verdict holds the defendant accountable for actions that exploited a public health crisis for his own gain. He flouted the lawful authority of the FDA and deliberately deceived the public by repackaging low-quality, foreign-made test kits at a time when accuracy and reliability were critical,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Grant. “This conduct, tied to the unlawful operations uncovered at the Reedley laboratory, put lives at risk. Our office remains committed to prosecuting those who endanger the public through fraud, especially in matters affecting the health and safety of our communities.”

During Zhu’s trial, prosecutors revealed Zhu and his partner Zhaoyan Wang hired inexperienced employees who would not ask any questions.

“The employees were cellphone salespeople, supermarket workers, childcare workers, and stay-at-home parents before starting at UMI. Some of the employees were hired through the Fresno County Economic Development Corporation, which is a public organization that helps find jobs for unskilled workers and provides significant subsidies to employers that hire them,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Wang, who is also charged in the case, fled the United States shortly before Zhu’s arrest and remains a fugitive in China.

Federal investigators also accused Zhu, Wang and others at UMI, of importing faulty COVID tests from China and then selling them to U.S. under the false belief the tests were authorized by the FDA, made in the USA, were made in connection with a certified medical lab, and the tests worked.

Several former employees testified that Zhu instructed them to make false representations to customers. The employees explained that they knew what they were doing was wrong but went through with it because they did not want to lose their jobs. They also explained that they feared Zhu would physically hurt them if they defied his orders, according to the news release.

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