A federal jury in Fresno convicted Jia Bei Zhu on all 12 counts arising from a scheme to sell fraudulent COVID-19 test kits through his company, Universal Meditech Inc. [1] The indictment charged Zhu with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of distributing adulterated and misbranded medical devices, and one count of making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration. [1] The case was tried before United States District Judge Dale A. Drozd in the Eastern District of California. [1]
Prosecutors alleged that Zhu imported defective rapid COVID-19 tests from China between 2020 and 2023 and marketed them to customers as FDA-authorized and manufactured in the United States, neither of which was true. [1] Universal Meditech generated approximately $4 million in sales and distributed more than one million tests to buyers across the country during that period. [1] The false-statements charge stemmed from representations Zhu made directly to the FDA about the tests' origins and regulatory status. [1]
The jury returned a unanimous conviction on every count, leaving no acquittals or hung charges. [1] Zhu now faces sentencing before Judge Drozd; no sentencing date has been publicly scheduled. Wire fraud carries a statutory maximum of 20 years per count, and the misbranding and false-statements counts carry additional exposure, meaning Zhu's Guidelines range will likely be driven by the fraud loss calculation and any sophisticated-means or obstruction enhancements the government argues at sentencing.
The prosecution is part of a broader federal enforcement push targeting COVID-era medical-product fraud that has continued well past the public-health emergency's formal end. [1] The Eastern District of California has not publicly announced post-trial motions, and no notice of appeal is yet on record given that sentencing has not occurred.