The Journey Update: The D.A. Brings Charges

I'm not sure if you can do it. Mike, check one, two, microphone, one, two, one, two. Last week, on the morning of October 6th, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office held a press conference downtown. The room was filled with local news reporters. Just after 11 a.m., a man in a gray suit and striped tie walked up to the podium. Good morning. My name is Nathan Hawkman. I'm the District Attorney of Los Angeles County. We're going to be talking today about an unprecedented case of child abuse that occurred in Arcadia, in which very serious felony charges have been filed today. I've been reporting on Sylvia Zhang and Guozhin Chuan, the inigmatic couple at the center of a nationwide surrogacy scandal for over a year now. And one question has come up again and again. Are they still pursuing the criminal charges, the Arcadia PD, and they filed? What if I like the child abuse and all of that, where they found guilty and all of that? I want to know, is Sylvia going to go? Do you know, is she going to go to jail for any of this? Just three weeks after we release this podcast series, which included previously unreported details about the case. Police arrested Sylvia and Guozhin, and they charged them with multiple felony counts related to the abuse of their many children. This house could only be described as a house of horrors for these young, credibly young children that have been brought to this house through this surrogacy process. Not only is the couple now facing criminal charges in LA, the feds are involved, too. The morning of the arrest, the FBI took part in a search of the couple's mansion. From in the dark in the New Yorker, I made the coffin. In this bonus episode of The Journey, I'll tell you about the new criminal case, as well as some surprising things law enforcement found inside the house. And, I'll tell you what I've learned about the FBI investigation. Before he described the charges, the LA County District Attorney, Nathan Hockman, gave the audience a warning. The information that we are going to be talking about, and again, we're going to be talking about what has been publicly filed in the complaint today, is incredibly disturbing. The couple, he said, was being charged with multiple felonies, including conspiracy to commit child abuse. That conspiracy charge cited the couple's decision to recruit surrogates under false pretenses. It also cited the couple's installation of more than 30 motion-activated cameras, which had captured Danny's spanking, slapping, and hitting children in rooms throughout the mansion. Then, Hockman described a room I hadn't heard about before. One of the rooms in the residence was not equipped with a camera. And one or more of these charged, co-conspirator Danny's was captured on surveillance, carrying these children into that room where the children could then be heard screaming from inside. In my reporting, I'd learned that Guo Jun was sometimes directly involved in the abuse. But what the DA described was far more detailed, and, as he'd warned us, difficult to listen to. In one incident, the surveillance footage showed Guo Jun entering one of the classrooms and allegedly telling the Danny to hit one of his children harder. And then the DA said, "He joined in the physical punishment, repeatedly striking the child's bare buttocks and delivering open-handed blows to the child's head. This defendant, Schwen, also lifted the child into the air by one arm while continuing to strike him and repeatedly struck the child's head from side to side, with sufficient force that the child's body lurged in alternating directions with the blows." The footage that Hawkman was describing had been seized by police more than a year ago. That was in May of 2025, when police had shown up at the house after the couple's two-month-old baby had ended up in the hospital with severe head injuries. Hawkman now told us something else, something new about what had happened last year. Right before police arrived, the cameras had captured Sylvia and Guo Jun allegedly instructing their children to deny they'd been beaten. Sylvia had even told a nanny to hide the evidence of the beatings. As the detectives were actually approaching the residents on May 7, 2025, defendant Jong warned one of the nannies that someone was coming and instructed her not to discuss the beatings and to put away the sticks that were used to strike the children. Following that instruction, that nanny went ahead and gathered up the sticks and concealed them inside of a drawer. As I listened to the press conference, I kept thinking about the fact that all the incidents the DA was describing had taken place over a year ago. Back when police first obtained this footage, they'd arrested Sylvia and Guo Jun, held them in jail for four days, and then released them. Social workers had removed all the kids from the house, but the parents hadn't been charged. I raised my hand as a question about this. Right here. Stopping Ava Kaufman with the New Yorkers in the dark was wondering if you could explain why it took so long to charge the parents after the initial arrest in May 2025 when most of his evidence had been on video. So again, with respect to putting together a case like this and I invite you to look at the criminal complaint that has been filed, we do it methodically because we need to review everything from video to witness statements. The DA went on to say it took a long time because it was a complicated case. His office wanted to be methodical. They had to deal with different languages. It wasn't the most illuminating answer. A source with knowledge of the situation later told me that our reporting and the public scrutiny that followed played a role in the county's decision to charge the parents. After the press conference, I drove to the courthouse in Pasadena for the arrangement where the couple was going to make their first appearance in the criminal case. I was seated in the jury box along with a bunch of broadcast media and the courtroom sketch artist. Sylvia entered the courtroom wearing an oversized white t-shirt and black pants. She looked a little exhausted but otherwise the same. Guo Jun, however, was completely transformed. When I'd last tried to speak with him in the spring, he'd been energetically strolling around a parking lot or in business clothes, his head full of black hair. Now he was in a wheelchair, I'm bald. According to his lawyer, Guo Jun was being treated for a rare form of leukemia and had just received a bone marrow transplant. A medical port stuck out from his chest. Its catheters dangling. Both defendants pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations Hawkman had outlined that morning. Then the court turned its attention to the question of bail. The prosecutor, Mackenzie Tamori, had filed a motion asking the judge to set bail at $100 million dollars for each defendant. I understand that that is an extraordinarily high request but this is an extraordinary case out. A reasonably attainable amount does not have to be easily attainable or convenient but reasonably attainable. Tamori explained why the prosecution believed the couple could reasonably attain such an extraordinary sum. She said the couple had many, many bank accounts. About 200 bank accounts that they control and have assets in 70 corporate bank accounts. And that those bank accounts had a remarkable amount of money transferred between them the past few years. It's for the approximate $250 million dollars. $250 million dollars. I'd known that Guadrian was wealthy. A former real estate employee had told us that he purchased million dollar properties in cash. But moving a quarter of a billion dollars around, that surprised me. Tamori then shared some additional details about what had happened after that morning's arrest. She said law enforcement was currently searching the couple's mansion. And already, they'd found millions of dollars worth of assets, including antique sculptures and expensive bottles of alcohol. There were crates and crates of Mao Tai, the Pungent Chinese liquor that Guadrian's former employees told me he liked to drink. Authorities had also found multiple passports. Guadrian had one US passport in his office, another US passport in a safety on stairs. He also had a Chinese passport and a Mexican one. But I do know that they had used fake passports to open up bank accounts. She was also concerned that the passports could be used to help the couple flee the country. That flight risk was another reason she wanted to set the bail at $100 million. And she asked the judge for something else, a protective order, so that the couple could not contact or intimidate the children, who were now victims and witnesses in the criminal case. Since their kids were placed in foster care last year, Sylvia and Guo Jun have been allowed supervised visits. And Timori gave an example of how on one of those visits, Sylvia had tried to coach them. - And I will add, Your Honor, in speaking with dependency and DCFS individuals, there was also an occasion where Ms. Maunt was meeting with the child and reading of the child with the DCFS monitor in the room and she had written in the book so that the child could see it with the DCFS monitor and not tell them you're happy with me, something the effect of telling them you want to come home with me. Time and time again, these defendants are attempting to get away with this, Your Honor. And I will also note that mine-- Sylvia's defense attorney wasn't at the arrangement, but Guo Jun's was, and he represented both parents that day. His name was Mitchell Crems. And if that sounds familiar, that's because he's the same lawyer Guo Jun used for the child welfare case in the juvenile dependency court. That was the case we told you about in episode five, where the judge decided that neither parent would get to reunify with their children. Mitchell Crems was now arguing that setting the bail at $100 million for each defendant was, quote, absurd. He pointed out that Guo Jun stuck in a wheelchair was gravely ill. - If he's not tended to properly and if he is confined, he could possibly die drop her. So we aren't asking him at this time for it. So bail would be set at the reasonable amount to be $5 million for each defendant. - After some back and forth, the judge made his decision. - So I'm going to set the bail at $2,090 for each defendant with following non-financial conditions. - That's $20 million for each defendant. With the added conditions that they surrender all of their passports, wear electronic monitoring devices, and only leave their home for court or medical emergencies. Any issue to protect a voter, prohibiting any contact with the children. Right after the arrangement, Mitchell Crems held an impromptu press conference outside the courthouse. It was 100 degrees that afternoon, but if he was sweating beneath his powder blue suit, he didn't show it. - Just speak up. - Okay, who would like to start? - Crems told us, Sylvia and Guo Jun were being targeted because of their background. - My client, Mr. Chuan and Sylvia, are being treated unfairly because they're immigrants, because they're Chinese. They came to this country from a communist country to be able to have, to exercise the liberties, to have as many children as they want. If they were white, if they were Elon Musk, and they weren't Chinese, they wouldn't experience this level of scrutiny. So, he reiterated to the crowd what he previously told me, that the child abuse was all the nannies fall, and that the parents had fired any nannies who'd acted inappropriately. - Any more questions? - I had one. - What is the FBI investigating? - I can't comment on that at this time. - Have they been giving you any information? - The FBI spokesperson, I later asked, said the same thing. But in the course of my reporting, I've learned some things about what the FBI may be looking into. More on that, after the break. (upbeat music) You might remember how, when all this started last year, the FBI was investigating Sylvie and Guo Jun. The Bureau refused to comment on the case, but Arcadia police confirmed that their detectives are working with the FBI. - They'd interviewed the couple's surrogates and even some of their former employees. And back then, they were looking into the possibility of child trafficking. But as far as I could tell, there was no evidence the couple was selling their children, and the FBI no longer seemed to be pursuing this line of inquiry. But I've heard there are other reasons the FBI is scrutinizing the couple. First of all, remember that office building owned by Guo Jun's LLCs? The one where authorities discovered an illicit casino, narcotics, and hundreds of pounds of psychedelic mushrooms. - Illegal drugs, firearms, and gambling. It was all allegedly happening at a property managed by the man at the center of the Syracuse scandal that's-- - I told you in episode two about how the city of El Monte filed a lawsuit against Guo Jun and his business associates. That suit is still pending, but former drug enforcement administration and Department of Defense officials told me that what was going on at Guo Jun's building might raise bigger questions about Guo Jun's potential ties to money laundering. I should say that an attorney for Guo Jun previously told me his client has never engaged in any illicit financial transactions. There could be another reason that the federal government might be looking into Guo Jun. That has to do with the FBI's investigations into influence operations carried out by the Chinese Communist Party, or CCP. Since 2020, the Justice Department has charged at least six people in Southern California with acting or conspiring to act as illegal agents of the Chinese government. Earlier this year, as part of its investigations, the FBI conducted a series of raids in LA County. I don't have any evidence connecting Guo Jun to these investigations, but I have discovered links between him and one of the key figures in these cases. It's worth taking a moment to explain. Back in China, you might recall Guo Jun was named a deputy to the People's Congress for St. John. The role is kind of equivalent to that of a state representative in the US, and he served a five-year term. After immigrating here, Guo Jun became something of a well-loved figure in the Chinese-American business community. In 2018, he founded a group called the US Xinjiang General Chamber of Commerce and named himself the president. There are many so-called friendship associations like these, especially across the Xin-Gai Rail Valley in LA County, which is home to a large Chinese and Chinese-American population. wealthy business people like Guo Jun, use these civic groups to hobnob with local politicians and keep up ties to Beijing. A lot of this is just run-of-the-mill networking, but there's also extensive research showing that the Chinese government sometimes uses such groups to directly advance CCP interests. Several of the people investigated by the FBI had ties to US-China friendship associations. That included someone Guo Jun was connected to. Her name is Eileen Wang, and she was serving as the mayor of Arcadia. This is a story out of a movie. The mayor of Arcadia is stepping down tonight after pleading guilty to charges accusing her of working as an agent for China. Wang could face up to 10 years in prison, or lawyer say she is sorry for the mistakes she's made. According to the plea agreement, Wang had taken direction from Chinese government officials to post propaganda on a news website. In one instance, an official had instructed her to post an article denying that human rights abuses were being committed against the Muslim-weager population, in Xinjiang. That's the same region where Guo Jun lived and worked in local politics. Guo Jun had been a top donor to Eileen Wang's City Council campaign, and I found several photos of them together online. In one of these pictures, at the City Councilwoman's victory party, they're seated close together. Wang's cup is filled with red wine. In front of Guo Jun, are two bottles of maltai. (speaking Chinese) That's from a video we found of Guo Jun speaking on an event for a friendship organization, Eileen Wang founded. (speaking Chinese) In Mandarin, Guo Jun is praising Wang, describing her as the Chinese people's pride and role model. (speaking Chinese) Despite that relationship with Eileen Wang, Guo Jun's lawyer, Mitchell Crems, told me his client does not have ties to the CCP. He added, quote, "I would be surprised if there was any evidence to support this contention." We'll see what comes of all this. But for now, in addition to looking into Guo Jun's parenting and charging him with child abuse, authorities are also looking into Guo Jun's business dealings, which could mean maybe we'll finally get answers as to where all his money might be coming from. (gentle piano music) After the break, how the surrogates feel. about these dramatic developments. When Sylvia and Guo Jun were arrested last week, many of the surrogates had already heard the news before I had the chance to call them. By midday, the story was everywhere. It was actually a little surprising, just how many outlets had picked it up. Some of the surrogates had watched the live stream of the DA's press conference. Others learned about it after the fact. I can think of it and I was so mad at myself. A girl. Maria told me she kept thinking about how long all this had gone on for. And how for years, the couple had been allowed to keep bringing more and more children into their home. Maria told me she listened to the fifth episode of this podcast. The one where we revealed how many tips, police and social workers had gotten about the family over the years. That mean the kids, they don't have any justice, like they don't nobody help them. You know what I mean? And I was like, you know, they kind of whatever they saw, you know, this could have been prevented. And it's just everybody involved, you know. Maria kept saying this could have been prevented. If social workers and law enforcement had made different decisions, with a couple of had as many children, with the surrogates have been sued by the couple. And how would things have been different for the children? Maria couldn't stop wondering what else the two kids she'd carried had experienced in that house. I could just imagine what they were going through. And this is just what they saw in evidence. Could you see, could you imagine like how they went bad to bad? Like where do you like the stupidest smallest thing? Like were they read a book every night? Were they given hugs? Were they given words of affirmation as little kids should be? You know, it's like the best freaking years of your life where these kids grow up and see when they want to be like you and they, you know, mom and dad for whatever it is. And it's like, I thought that's what I was helping Sylvia West. Yesterday, the couple was scheduled to appear at a bail hearing and Maria decided to attend. It would be the first time she'd seen Sylvia since 2024, when Maria had given birth to the second child she carried for the couple. Gojndon ended up coming to court. He'd had a medical emergency that morning. Sylvia was there and Maria wondered if Sylvia would recognize her, but she wasn't entirely surprised when Sylvia didn't seem to notice. Ultimately, the hearing was postponed until this Friday. As of this writing, the couple remains in custody. The journey is written and produced by me, Ava Kaufman, senior producer Natalie Jablonsky, and producer Raymond Tungukar. Samara Freemark is the Managing Producer for the series. It's edited by Allison McAdden, additional editing by Willing Davidson and Madeline Baron, theme and original music by Alex Weston, additional music by Chris Juleen and Allison Leigh Brown. This episode was mixed by Corey Schruppel. Our art is by Vartica Sharma. Our direction by Ava Michaelov and Ben Coffey. Doc checking by Enwell Xu. Additional reporting by Zemo Li. Legal review by Fabio Bertone and Ben Murray. Our Managing Editor is Julia Rothchild. The editor of The New Yorker is David Remnick. If you have comments or story tips, please send them to the team at in the [email protected]. I make sure to follow in the dark wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, it's Madeline. If you've enjoyed this series and want to support in the dark, please subscribe to The New Yorker. 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