Congressional panel on Chinese influence subpoenas materials on clandestine Reedley lab
A clandestine, unlicensed laboratory discovered in a Reedley warehouse last year – and owned by companies whose owners live in China – has come under the scrutiny of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party.
The bipartisan committee of the U.S. House of Representatives served a subpoena to the city of Reedley last week, according to Politico. The online news organization reported Wednesday that Reedley city officials turned over a vast trove of documents, photographs and video to the committee.
The assets of Universal MediTech Inc., the company that operated the lab legally in Fresno until it closed in late 2022, were taken over by Prestige Biotech Inc. and relocated to a warehouse on I Street in downtown Reedley. But the company never sought or obtained a business license in Reedley and was discovered operating illegally by a city code enforcement officer.
Both Universal MediTech and Prestige Biotech have owners in China – prompting concerns over possible connections to China’s communist government and fueling speculation over what was going on inside the lab.
The laboratory was shut down in March after inspectors with the city of Reedley, the Fresno County Department of Public Health and state and federal agencies discovered not only a rash of building and safety code violations, but also dozens of refrigerators and freezers filled with vials of blood, viruses and bacteria including coronavirus and other exotic contagions, such as malaria, Hepatitis B and C, chlamydia, human herpes and rubella among others, used in the production of various test kits.
Investigators also found containers of chemicals, hundreds of laboratory mice and an array of stored laboratory equipment.
Politico, citing an unnamed source, said that a review of materials submitted by Reedley in response to the House subpoena “has identified troubling gaps in safeguards that allowed the clandestine facility to operate with impunity, as well as serious deficiencies in the federal government’s response.”
Universal Meditech operated first in Tulare from 2015 into 2018, and then in Fresno from late 2018 until late 2022, when it moved operations to Reedley. There, the company moved into a leased warehouse on I Street, never bothering to get a city business license or obtain permits for electrical wiring and other building modifications, the city has said. Nor did it have the necessary permits from Fresno County for handling and disposing of medical or hazardous waste, officials have confirmed.
In late July and early August, as part of a prolonged abatement and cleanup process to rid the warehouse of biological materials and potentially contaminated equipment, more than 100 tons of waste and other materials were removed and destroyed, according to Fresno County Superior Court documents.
This story was originally published September 13, 2023 at 12:39 PM.
