Inside accused Chinese spy Wanying Zhangs shady multimillion-dollar California real estate empire
After being busted earlier this month by the FBI for allegedly spying on China, California realtor Wanying Zhang and her real estate dealings are under intense scrutiny — raising questions about the source of her lavish lifestyle.Following her arrest, the 34-year-old, who is accused of working with Chinese handlers to surveil the son of Taiwan’s president, “lied to pretrial services” about the number of properties and assets she owns, according to prosecutors.Zhang, also known as Heather, had disclosed one property, but she and her husband appear to own seven homes worth an estimated $11 million, The Post has learned.Her attorney, Craig Harbaugh, put this down to a “misunderstanding,” but Assistant US Attorney Amanda Elbogen told an LA judge: “She’s a real estate agent; she should know what properties she owns.”Zhang was arrested at Los Angeles airport on October 4 as she tried to board a flight to Shanghai and charged with acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government.She appeared to live a life of luxury with her family in Irvine, Orange County, jet-setting around the world using the commissions earned from her multi-million dollar property sales at JC Pacific Capital, a small brokerage that serves southern California.She and her husband, Edric Ding, a fellow real estate agent at the same firm, amassed a sprawling property empire and have raked in close to $16 million from selling homes they own.But, concerns have been raised about the source of her wealth by a realtor who works with them at JC Pacific Capital.“I’m shocked to hear that,” a colleague who wished to remain anonymous told The Post upon finding out how many homes she owns.“It is out of the question to earn that much from commission and become a real estate mogul.
The average condo here is $1.5 million.Maybe she really was working for China.”Prosecutors have accused Zhang of having access to $190,000 in a secret Chinese cryptocurrency account that she “was still...