How did Zhang Wanying, the spy who worked with the son of prisoner Lai Qingde, own 7 properties and have a net worth of more than 300 million?

Zhang Wanying often posts records of her luxurious life on IG.

Wanying “Heather” Zhang, a Chinese-American female real estate agent who was arrested by the FBI for allegedly following the Taiwanese president’s eldest son in the United States, was recently charged by federal prosecutors for allegedly falsely reporting her assets to the judicial department. The New York Post reported that the female real estate agent accused of working for Chinese intelligence agents actually owns seven huge properties in California with a total price of more than 11 million U.S. dollars (approximately NT$350 million).

Zhang Wanying was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on the 4th when she was preparing to take a flight to Shanghai. Defense attorney Craig Harbaugh called the issue of asset declaration a "misunderstanding," but Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Elbogen told the judge that Chang was a real estate agent and should know how much property she owned. The judge finally determined that she was a flight risk and ruled that she should not be allowed to post bail.

Prosecutors question asset declarations and account funds

Zhang Wanying obtained a California real estate brokerage license in 2016, and she and her husband Edric Ding (transliteration) practice in the same agency company in Southern California. The New York Post reported that the couple had made approximately $16 million from property sales over the past few years. The report also quoted an unnamed colleague as saying that he was surprised that Zhang Wanying owned such a large property, and questioned whether relying on real estate agency commissions alone was enough to accumulate such assets.

Prosecutors also alleged that Zhang Wanying had access to a secret Chinese cryptocurrency account containing $190,000 and still made profits from it. The investigation also involves California businessman Fatai Miao. CBS News reported that federal documents listed a man who accompanied Zhang Wanying to Seattle in September 2025 and was suspected of spying on Lai Qingde's son as "Individual No. 1." The media identified his identity as Miao Fatai based on relevant clues. Miao Fatai had not yet been prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice at the time, and the extent of her involvement in the case remains to be clarified by investigation.