The Chinese woman who was arrested at Mar-a-Lago after being caught with nine USB drives and a thumb drive with malware says she paid $20,000 to attend an event at the president’s Palm Beach estate.
The suspected spy is not the only citizen of the People’s Republic who has shelled out many yuan for the privilege of being at the Winter White House – in what could become a nightmare for the Secret Service.
The number of Chinese tourists willing to pay anywhere from $13,000 to $20,000 a ticket to events at Mar-a-Lago – tickets that usually go for $1,000 a pop – has escalated to the point that the shindigs often look more like a Peking soiree than a charity ball at the president’s enclave and private club.
Palm Beach party planner Lexye Aversa tells DailyMail.com: ‘The presence of many Chinese is simply ‘the new normal.’
From November to April parts of Mar-a-Lago are transformed to host fancy black-tie fundraisers for a not-for-profits that support an array of causes. The number of Chinese tourists willing to pay top dollar to attend these shindigs has escalated to the point that the parties often look more like soirees in Peking. Frequent Palm Beach partygoers say they can pinpoint the date – February 25, 2018 (pictured) – and the event – a fundraiser for a pro-Israel group named The Truth About Israel – that the swell of Chinese began infiltrating the events
At the Truth About Israel fundraiser last February (pictured) there were 500 tickets sold for the event – almost half were held by Chinese people
Clad in tuxedos and long gowns and holding glasses of Veuve Clicquot, the guests mingled with Republican luminaries like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
Palm Beach party planner Lexye Aversa tells DailyMail.com: ‘The presence of many Chinese is simply ‘the new normal’
Frequent Palm Beach partygoers interviewed by DailyMail.com say they can pinpoint the date – February 25, 2018 – and the event – a fundraiser for a pro-Israel group named The Truth About Israel – that the swell of Chinese began infiltrating the events.
Sid Dinerstein, a former president of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, was there and says when he walked into Mar-a-Lago for the party the Versailles-like Donald J. Trump Grand Ballroom felt different from the dozens of times he’d been there before.
‘There had to be more than 200 Chinese people there,’ said Dinerstein, 72, a major player among conservatives in an area where President Donald Trump spends several weeks every winter.
‘I was holding my $650-ticket for the event when I walked in, and I had to look at it again because I thought for a minute I was in the wrong place.’
And after Dinerstein assured himself he was indeed at the right place, he asked organizers about the dozens of well-dressed Asian visitors, many of whom did not speak English.
I was told Mar-a-Lago had suddenly become a tourist destination for well-to-do members of China’s upper-crust.
‘I was told Mar-a-Lago had suddenly become a tourist destination for well-to-do members of China’s upper-crust,’ Dinerstein said.
‘Apparently, after (Chinese president) Xi Jinping came to a summit with our president at Mar-a-Lago in 2017, it became a thing for China’s affluent class.
‘Somehow that particular night, a bunch of them got tickets and just showed up.
‘In all, there were 500 tickets sold for the event, and it seems almost half were held by Chinese people.’
Clad in tuxedos and long gowns and holding glasses of Veuve Clicquot, the guests mingled with Republican luminaries like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was then a U.S. Congressman running for the governor’s mansion, and U.S. Congressman Brian Mast, and foreign dignitaries like Israel Consul General Lior Haiat and former Israel deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon.
The entertainment included a Michael Jackson impersonator.
‘The choice of entertainment was a little strange,’ said high-profile Palm Beach party planner Lexye Aversa, who helped put the wingding together. ‘But the guests seemed to love it.’
Steven Alembik, a Republican donor who supports Trump and once had to defend a tweet where he called President Barack Obama a ‘Muslim n*****’ organized the party for The Truth About Israel, a non-profit whose mission is to ‘educate and train the public about the facts of Israel in today’s world,’ according to its mission statement.
Sid Dinerstein, a former president of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County, said when he walked into Mar-a-Lago for the party that ‘there had to be more than 200 Chinese people there.’ The FBI is looking into two people believed to be advertising access to Mar-a-Lago in China, including Florida resident Li ‘Cindy’ Yang (pictured far left), who has been photographed at Mar-a-Lago several times
Never before that night of February 25, 2018, however, did Mar-a-Lago regulars notice an influx of Chinese tourists at formal Palm Beach dinners. ‘I don’t know why they all showed up at that particular event,’ a guest said, ‘and I must assume they not really donors to Israeli causes. But it’s fair to say Mar-a-Lago hasn’t been the same since’
Republican groups and non-profits aligned with conservative politics continue to use the venue – and, unwittingly or not, provide a conduit for Trump-centered Chinese tourism and foreign visitors willing to pay between $13,000 to $20,000 for tickets that usually go for $1,000 per person
Alembik declined to answer questions about his shindig and why this many foreign tourists were in attendance.
Never before that night of February 25, 2018, however, did Dinerstein and other Mar-a-Lago regulars notice an influx of Chinese tourists at formal Palm Beach dinners.
‘I don’t know why they all showed up at that particular event,’ he said, ‘and I must assume they not really donors to Israeli causes. But it’s fair to say Mar-a-Lago hasn’t been the same since.’
Access to 95-year-old compound once owned by cereal heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post is limited to club members who now pay $200,000 to join, and members’ family and friends.
From November to April, however, parts of Mar-a-Lago are transformed into a catering hall for one of Palm Beach’s favorite past-times – fancy black-tie fundraisers for a not-for-profits that support an array of causes, from cancer to clean water to drug rehab.
Any such group has been able to throw a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago for as long as a club member vouches for it.
And before Trump became president, it wasn’t rare to see as many as three major galas on the property on any given weekend, something that created a steady income stream for Mar-a-Lago.
After he was elected, and in the wake of public relations nightmares like Trump’s mitigated reaction to racial tensions and the separation of immigrant families at the Mexican border, Mar-a-Lago has lost most of its charity business to another business down the street, the Breakers Palm Beach resort.
These days, however, Republican groups and non-profits aligned with conservative politics continue to use the venue – and, unwittingly or not, provide a conduit for Trump-centered Chinese tourism and foreign visitors willing to pay between $13,000 to $20,000 for tickets that usually go for $1,000 per person.
The grand prize, said Dinerstein, is for the Chinese to show up on a night when the president is here.
‘Apparently, after (Chinese president) Xi Jinping came to a summit with our president at Mar-a-Lago in 2017, it became a thing for China’s affluent class,’ Dinerstein added. Pictured: President Donald Trump poses with Chinese President Xi Jinping and their wives upon their arrival to the Mar-a-Lago estate on April 6, 2017
The grand prize, said Dinerstein, is for the Chinese to show up on a night when the president is here. Pictured: Trump walking with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago in April of 2017
‘It’s like they hit the jackpot,’ he said. ‘The idea of being in the same room as a world leader after you just write a check is a novel idea for these people. Nowhere in the world, especially China, is it as easy as it is at Mar-a-Lago.’
Trump wasn’t there when Dinerstein stepped into the surrealist scene in February 2018.
DailyMail.com reached out to the White House and the Trump Organization for comment about this story.
Yet, Chinese tourists continued to materialize at Mar-a-Lago – until recent incidents brought increased scrutiny on access to the compound.
On March 30, a Chinese woman was arrested after she was allowed on the grounds even though she was not a member, and the event she claimed she had flown into Florida to attend had been cancelled.
Yujing Zhang, 33, was charged with entering a restricted area and making false statements. She was ordered held without bond until a scheduled third hearing in federal court Monday.
Zhang, who has been in federal custody since then and uses a Mandarin translator during court hearings, allegedly told Trump staff she just wanted to use the pool.
She was allowed onto the grounds and, after a ride with a staffer on a golf cart, presented herself at a metal detector checkpoint.
There, it became apparent to U.S. Secret Service agents Zhang was allegedly changing her story about the reasons her presence. She was allegedly found to be in the possession of four cell phones, an expired and a current passport, a laptop, an ‘external hard drive type device’ and a thumb drive that allegedly contained malware but no bathing-suit for the pool, according to court papers.
She was grilled for nearly four hours by U.S. Secret Service agents who then found more electronic equipment, a spy-camera detector and over $8,000-cash in her $350-a-night room at the nearby Colony Hotel.
FBI agents are investigating the incident as possible espionage while Zhang is being held and have deemed her ‘a serious flight risk.’
Chinese tourists continued to materialize at Mar-a-Lago – until recent incidents brought increased scrutiny on access to the compound. Yang (far left) was also seen at the February 25, 2018, party, posting pictures of the event on her Facebook page
The 45-year-old’s name and Mar-a-Lago connection sprung up because she was the former owner of Orchids of Asia spa, a Palm Beach area massage parlor where women provided sexual services allegedly patronized by former New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a friend of Trump’s. Pictured: Yang with Trump in February at a Mar-a-Lago Super Bowl party
Zhang’s attorneys, meanwhile, claim she spent $20,000 on a ticket to a Mar-a-Lago event once scheduled for March 30 but cancelled without her knowledge several days before.
Defense attorney Robert Adler said in court Zhang is no spy but simply a foreigner who entered the country legally, was ushered into Mar-a-Lago by Donald Trump staff and did nothing untoward while she was there.
The FBI is also looking into two people believed to be advertising access to Mar-a-Lago in China, including Florida resident Li ‘Cindy’ Yang, who has been photographed at Mar-a-Lago several times and even took a selfie with Trump during a Super Bowl party at the club, and Charles Lee, a businessman whose name Zhang mentioned in her interview with the Secret Service. Neither has been arrested.
Yang was also seen at the February 25, 2018, party, posting pictures of the event on her Facebook page.
The 45-year-old Yang’s name and Mar-a-Lago connection sprung up because she was the former owner of Orchids of Asia spa, a Palm Beach area massage parlor where women provided sexual services allegedly patronized by former New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, a friend of Trump’s.
Yang and Lee caught the attention of authorities with ads targeted to wealthy tourists in China promising Mar-a-Lago visits and photos with Trump and his family members.
In a federal court Monday in West Palm Beach, Zhang’s attorney produced a copy of a $20,000-wire transfer from Zhang to Lee that, Adler said, was to pay for access to a party scheduled for the night she was arrested then cancelled.
The photocopy of the transfer entered in the court records was in Chinese.
Some of the ads for parties that run in Chinese are for Mar-a-Lago tickets for $13,000.
Echoing Trump’s claim Zhang’s arrest was a ‘fluke’ and nothing nefarious, Dinerstein said the lure of Mar-a-Lago, not spying, is the only thing at play with Chinese tourists.
He also bristled when asked if greedy Republican supporters are selling access to Mar-a-Lago to unvetted tourists.
Yujing Zhang was arrested late last month after she was allowed on Mar-a-Lago grounds even though she was not a member, and the event she claimed she had flown into Florida to attend had been cancelled. She was found with two passports, four cell phones, and a USB drive that a Secret Service agent found had malware when inserting it into his computer
Zhang’s attorney, Robert Adler, said his client wired $20,000 to Chinese businessman and party organizer Charles Lee (on right with President Trump in an undated photo) for an event that had been scheduled for March 30, the day she was at Mar-a-Lago
In this artist sketch, Zhang, left, listens to a hearing Monday, April 8, 2019, before federal Magistrate Judge William Matthewman in West Palm Beach, Fla. Secret Service agents arrested the 32-year-old woman March 30 after they say she gained admission by falsely telling a checkpoint she was a member and was going to swim
‘It’s undeniable that any event organized at Mar-a-Lago will raise more money and will bring more people than if the same even is organized somewhere else,’ he said.
The local Republican party, he said, used to hold its yearly, formal Lincoln Day Dinner, the year’s biggest fundraiser, in downtown West Palm Beach.
Then, three years ago, the dinner was moved to Trump’s place.
‘The ticket prices were raised from $250 per person to $375 per person, and we sold out in days,’ Dinerstein said. ‘Obviously local residents, too, like the place. So why couldn’t there be people flying from all over the world to attend a party at Mar-a-Lago?
‘Besides, this has nothing to do with the Republican Party. No one that I know is selling access to Mar-a-Lago.’
For Aversa, the Palm Beach society party planner, the presence of many Chinese is simply ‘the new normal.’
‘We all know the beyond-belief scenario we’re in with this presidency,’ she said, ‘and this takes it to another dimension.’
While Trump and his family are under protection of the U.S. Secret Service while at Mar-a-Lago, the club’s staff determines who’s granted access to the property.
Once someone is allowed in, the Secret Service then controls who gets to be in the same room as the president.
After Zhang’s arrest, the Secret Service issued a statement blaming Mar-a-Lago security for the Zhang snafu.
‘The Secret Service does not determine who is invited or welcome at Mar-a-Lago,’ the statement said. ‘This is the responsibility of the host entity. The Mar-a-Lago Club management determines which members and guests are granted access to the property. This access does not afford an individual proximity to the president.’
Once a guest has been allowed to go in, Secret Service agents use magnetometers in airport-style checks to ensure the guest isn’t carrying weapons.
Guests who are known to be planning to interact with Trump do undergo Secret Service background checks in advance.
Palm Beach public relations guru Lynn Aronberg, who’s organizing a $500-per-ticket fundraising brunch at Mar-a-Lago for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society April 14, said no one from Mar-a-Lago raised any concern about her event.
‘You just signed up for it and pay for the food and drinks and the venue,’ she said. ‘It’s really easy. I’m going to give them a list with the names of the guests a couple days before and that’s it. But then, I haven’t be contacted for large numbers of tickets for Chinese tourists.’