SoCal man at center of surrogacy scandal now tied to properties linked to alleged gambling and drugs
ARCADIA, Calif. (KABC) -- Illegal drugs, firearms, and gambling.
It was all allegedly happening at a property managed by the man at the center of the Southern California surrogacy scandal that's made national headlines.
The new details were revealed in a Complaint for Abatement filed by the City of El Monte obtained by 7 On Your Side Investigates.
According the complaint, the "manager" who "exercised control" over an El Monte Business complex is Guojun Xuan.
Law enforcement sources say it's the same Guojun Xuan who we first told you about in July 21 in the case of the children he has with wife Silvia Zhang were put in Department of Children and Family Services custody. Many of those children were living inside the couple's Arcadia home and were born through surrogacy.
ORIGINAL REPORT: 21 children - all with surrogate mothers - taken from Arcadia couple amid investigation
But just a few miles from the home is the El Monte commercial property complex managed by Xuan.
According to court documents, gambling machines and stashes of psilocybin mushrooms were found inside that complex.
The Complaint for Abatement also names a Haoren 'Dragon' Ma as the "ringleader" of the "unlicensed gambling" and "narcotics activities" carried out at the property and others.
The court document calls Ma a "foreign national, unlawfully present in the United States, and a convicted felon."
According to the court documents, in 2014, he went to jail after being convicted for being "the mastermind and ringleader of a fraudulent immigration scheme" who helped file "approximately 800 fraudulent asylum applications on behalf of Chinese nationals."
But Ma and Xuan are now being connected to more recent crimes police say unfolded in El Monte.
Court records show in 2023, police seized 84 boxes of psilocybin mushrooms at the business complex.
Mushrooms and cannabis were also found in bags during that same search as well as "a cell-phone style, concealed handgun." Gaming machines have also been found during multiple searches of the complex and in one court document, police say their investigation into Ma and others led them to guns and wads of cash.
The request for abatement says, "Defendants, as owners, managers, and/or operators of the Properties had actual knowledge of, or at minimum, acted with recklessness by failing to address or investigate the unlawful activity occurring on-site."
Other court documents 7 On Your Side previously reported on show images of teachers and nannies inside that Arcadia home with a group of children in two rows of desks.
Detectives wrote one image shows an adult "hitting a child in the face" while another child does "squats."
Detectives say another image allegedly shows "another child getting spanked" while face down on a desk.
The Arcadia Police Department say while Silvia Zhang and Guojun Xuan were arrested and released, their investigation into the couple and what went on in their home continues.
As for this new abatement, the City of El Monte is seeking to have that business complex and others listed be declared a public nuisance. It is also seeking to slap tens of thousands of dollars against Xuan, Ma and all the other defendants named.
For months, 7 On Your Side Investigates has been asking if Xuan and his wife will speak with us, but we have not heard back from them in months.
