An alleged Chinese agent arrested at Los Angeles International Airport over the weekend will remain in federal custody, a federal judge ruled Wednesday during a court hearing. The decision comes amid concern from the FBI that she may try to flee the country if released, law enforcement sources previously told CBS News.



Prosecutors successfully argued that 34-year-old realtor Wanying Zhang posed too great a flight risk. She had offered to post more than $1.2 million in property for her bond.

Prosecutors told Judge Steve Kim at the L.A. hearing that Zhang has a brother with a history of working for the Chinese government, and that her parents and siblings live in China.

The Orange County mother is now facing federal prosecution for allegedly surveilling the Taiwanese president's son in Washington last year at the direction of Chinese government officials.

Investigators have said Zhang owned a business in China, regularly has money deposited in a Chinese bank account and has parents, a brother and sister currently living there, CBS News has learned.

One law enforcement source said Zhang also had a Chinese passport that was not recovered during an FBI search of her home. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Elbogen confirmed this Wednesday in court.

The sources provided information anonymously as they were not authorized to speak on the record. Zhang's husband and sister declined to comment.

Wanying  Heather  Zhang. FBI

Elbogen told the court Wednesday that Zhang had received $190,000 into a Chinese bank account from an  unregistered cryptocurrency exchange  business and had  hundreds of thousands of dollars  at her disposal in China.

Zhang is currently in the custody of U.S. Marshals in Los Angeles. She was arrested Sunday trying to board a flight to Shanghai at LAX, CBS News was first to report.

She previously appeared briefly in court on Monday, represented by a public defender. The judge had told Zhang to get a private defense attorney by the time of her detention hearing Wednesday, which she did.

Prosecutors Wednesday accused Zhang of lying on the forms she filled out declaring he
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