The Chinese woman arrested at Mar-a-Lago who claims she paid $20,000 to a Chinese businessman in order to be there stayed at a Trump hotel property in Manhattan during two prior trips the U.S.
Yujing Zhan, who was booked after being questioned for hours by Secret Service agents both inside and nearby the president's private club, was found to be in possession of nine USB drives, more than $8,000 in cash, and a thumb drive including malicious malware, according to court documents.
She also had two passports on her, including one that had expired. Passport stamps reveal that she was admitted to the U.S. on four other occasions before the March 28, 2018 trip that preceded her arrest.
A source familiar with her case told the Miami Herald that on two of those trips – in July 2016 and January 2017 – she stayed at a Trump hotel property in New York City.
This means she would have been staying at either the Trump International Hotel and Tower, located at Columbus Circle, or the now renamed Trump Soho.
Yujing Zhang was arrested with two passports, four cell phones, and a USB drive that a Secret Service agent found had malware when inserting it into his computer
At the time of her arrest, Zhang told authorities she had been at Mar-a-Lago for an event, and had been invited by her associate Charles. Although there was no such event on the calendar, Chinese businessman Charles Lee had been promoting an event that had been cancelled for that same night. According to a flyer introduced as a defense exhibit, the event was to feature Elizabeth Trump-Grau, the president's sister.
Zhang told the secret service she wanted to talk to Trump family members at the event.
Her stays at a Trump hotels, which are open to the general public, on earlier visits could indicate a longer-term effort to interact with Trump's circle.
According to immigration stamps on passports also introduced as evidence, she arrived in the country July 2016, in the heat of the presidential campaign. The next visit began January 03, 2017, just days before Trump's inauguration.
Zhang's passport included stamps for the times she entered the U.S.
Each of the trips appear to have lasted about 10 days.
Other visits began December 2, 2017 and Sept. 14, 2018.
Zhang entered the U.S. on a business visa that allowed her to make repeat trips to the country for a period of a decade.
Zhang, who had a bond hearing in Florida Monday, entered the U.S. on a B-1/B-2 visa, according to documents released by the government.
She has another hearing this coming Monday.
Her visa allowed her to travel to the U.S. for a period ranging from 2016 through 2026. Those visas are designed for people who need to be in the country on a temporary basis, such as to attend a business conference, or to seek medical treatment. They allow for repeat visits.
The visas do not require an employee sponsor, though it was not immediately known how Zhang, 32, was able to obtain her travel document.
Two days after her most recent arrival, she was arrested after talking her way past security at the president's private club, where members pay a $200,000 initiation fee, and where Trump family members and top aides frequently spend weekends.
According to a Secret Service affidavit, a club security person who spoke to her concluded she may have been related to a club member with the same name, although Zhang is one of the most common names in China.
When she was at security, she also said she was there to go to the pool, although an agent noted in the affidavit that
