On March 30, a federal judge in California revoked the U.S. citizenship of Li Chen and Yu Zhou after finding they obtained naturalization through unlawful conduct tied to the theft and sale of medical trade secrets.
Judge James E. Simmons Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California entered the order after concluding both spouses illegally procured their naturalization. The decision follows guilty pleas and a criminal record tied to conspiracy charges, which the court found incompatible with the moral character required for citizenship.
Chen and Zhou each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit theft of trade secrets and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The court determined those offenses qualified as moral crimes and that, in the absence of extenuating circumstances, the couple was ineligible for naturalization.
“Gaining citizenship after committing serious crimes against the American people is an unacceptable abuse of our immigration system,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “These latest denaturalizations illustrate this Department of Justice’s focus on ensuring that citizenship remains a privilege to obtain, not a right to abuse.”
Chen’s immigration path began in 2007 when she entered the United States on an H-1B visa sponsored by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and in 2011 a Form I-140 was approved recognizing her as an alien of extraordinary ability; she then adjusted to lawful permanent resident status. Zhou first came to the United States in 2005 as an exchange visitor and returned in 2008 on an H-1B also sponsored by Nationwide Children’s Hospital, later adjusting to permanent resident status in 2011 as Chen’s derivative spouse. Chen became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2016 and Zhou followed in 2017.
Federal prosecutors allege the pair used their positions as research scientists to steal medical trade secrets related to exosome isolation and to monetize that intellectual property. The indictments say the couple personally benefited by forming their own company and obtaining shares in another company that employed the stolen technology, actions central to the criminal case against them.
Investigators also tied financial support to foreign programs, noting that both Chen and Zhou received funding from the People’s Republic of China’s State Administration of Foreign Expert Affairs. Court filings and sentencing documents link nearly $1.5 million in transactions to the exchange of exosome isolation intellectual property between the defendants and third parties.
In sentencing, Chen received 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, while Zhou was sentenced to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release. The court ordered more than $2.6 million in restitution, to be paid jointly and severally by the defendants, reflecting the scale of the alleged financial benefit tied to the theft.
The court held that the defendants’ wire fraud convictions, and the conspiracy to commit wire fraud, constituted crimes involving moral turpitude and therefore provided a statutory basis to revoke naturalization. It further found that the conspiracy to steal trade secrets combined with the lack of mitigating facts meant their actions reflected adversely on moral character, giving the government a second ground for denaturalization.
“Naturalization is not a right — it’s a privilege given by the generous people of this nation,” said Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “When the generosity of America’s immigration process is abused, our system works to correct such abuse. Full stop.”
The investigations were conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations and the ICE Office of the Principal Legal Advisor. The denaturalization litigation was handled by the Affirmative Litigation Unit of the Civil Division’s Office of Immigration Litigation, while the underlying criminal prosecutions were brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Ohio.
