Guojun Xuan and Silvia Zhang pleaded not guilty as a judge set bail at $20 million each amid child-abuse allegations.
LOS ANGELES, CA — Prosecutors allege a man at the center of the Arcadia surrogacy investigation has access to more than $100 million, a financial picture that became a key part of the government’s argument for unusually high bail in a criminal case involving allegations of repeated abuse of young children.
Guojun Xuan, 66, and Silvia Zhang, 39, have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from an investigation into children who lived at their Arcadia mansion, many of whom were born through surrogacy. Prosecutors initially asked that bail be set at $100 million for each defendant, citing the seriousness of the allegations and concerns that they could flee. A judge instead set bail at $20 million each and imposed additional restrictions.
Prosecutors allege Xuan has access to about 200 bank accounts and at least 70 corporate accounts with a combined value exceeding $100 million. The Associated Press reported that Deputy District Attorney MacKenzie Teymouri told the court the couple had more than 200 personal accounts and 70 corporate accounts. Investigators also found a statement for one account containing more than $70 million, along with millions of dollars in other valuable property, according to prosecutors.
The financial allegations came as Xuan and Zhang were charged in Los Angeles County with crimes connected to the treatment of children at their home. The district attorney’s office said each defendant faces one count of conspiracy to commit child abuse. Xuan also faces one felony count of child abuse, one count of accessory after the fact and five felony counts of dissuading a witness. Zhang faces one accessory count and four counts of dissuading a witness. The charges are allegations, and both defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Los Angeles County prosecutors accuse Xuan and Zhang of conspiring to subject 15 of the 16 children who were living in their Arcadia home to repeated physical abuse. The district attorney’s office said at least 14 of the children were born through surrogacy and some were as young as 2 months old. Authorities previously located 21 children connected to the couple, including 15 who were removed from the Arcadia residence and six who were found elsewhere.
The criminal complaint says the couple operated their own surrogacy company and made false statements to at least two women who agreed to carry children for them. Prosecutors allege the women were told that Zhang was having difficulty conceiving. Other reporting has described additional surrogates who said they were given misleading or incomplete information about how many children the couple already had. An attorney for the couple has disputed allegations that they deceived surrogates.
Inside the Arcadia home, prosecutors say more than 30 cameras were used to monitor children and nannies. The children allegedly spent hours in makeshift classrooms supervised by caregivers. Prosecutors say surveillance footage from an 11-day period in April and May 2025 showed nannies repeatedly striking or otherwise physically punishing children. Xuan is accused of telling a nanny on one occasion to hit a child harder and then taking part in the punishment himself. His attorney has denied that Xuan abused the children and has blamed wrongdoing on the nannies.
The investigation began after a 2-month-old boy was taken to a hospital with a serious head injury in May 2025. Prosecutors say nanny Chunmei Li is accused of injuring the infant and that Xuan and Zhang waited before seeking medical care. Li has been charged with felony child abuse under conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Authorities have said she left the United States, and a warrant for her arrest remains outstanding.
Prosecutors also accuse Xuan and Zhang of trying to influence what children and caregivers told investigators. The district attorney’s office alleges the couple instructed some children to deny that nannies had beaten them before police arrived and that Zhang told a nanny to conceal objects allegedly used to strike the children. Those allegations form part of the broader conspiracy and witness-dissuasion case now pending in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
The couple’s financial resources became a major issue during the bail hearing. Prosecutors argued that their access to numerous accounts, substantial assets and multiple passports increased the risk that they could leave the country. Defense attorney Mitchell Krems challenged the prosecution’s requested $100 million bail for each defendant and denied that his clients posed the danger portrayed by authorities. The judge ultimately ordered $20 million bail for each and imposed home detention and restrictions on contact with the children.
The criminal case remains pending, and authorities say the investigation is continuing. Prosecutors have said questions about the couple’s motives and the parentage of the children remain under investigation, while a separate federal inquiry into aspects of the surrogacy case also remains ongoing.
Author note: Last updated October 8, 2026.