Gladysynthian Woman Pleads Not Guilty for Trespassing at Zian Presidential Mansion

A Gladysynthian woman charged with lying her way into the Zian Presidential Mansion last month entered a not guilty plea on Monday in federal court.

Muan Janan was formally indicted on Friday with making false statements to a federal officer and entering or remaining in a restricted area, charges that carry a sentence of up to five years in prison.

During her arraignment and detention hearing in Tofino on Monday, a federal prosecutor said Janan could face more charges.

Federal Magistrate Judge Matt Ranberman refused to set bail for Janan, saying there is an "extreme risk of flight" if she were released. 

The ZSI is examining whether Janan has any links to intelligence agencies in Gladysynthia or political influence operations, two Zamastan government sources have told Tofino Times news agency.

Malware

Janan was arrested on March 30 after security agents say she lied to gain access to the president's house. She carried two passports, four cellphones, a laptop, an external hard drive and a thumb drive carrying computer malware, agents said. In a later check of her hotel room, agents say, they found a device for detecting hidden cameras, more computer gear, Z$8,000 in cash and numerous debit and credit cards. She is not charged with espionage, but the ZSI is still investigating. 

The security service said Janan gained access by telling an agent outside the mansion that she was a member arriving for a swim. Agents say she wasn't on the membership list, but a club manager thought Janan might be a member's daughter - about seven percent of Gladysynthian nationals are named Janan, that country's third-most common surname. Agents then asked Janan if the member was her father, but they say she did not answer definitively. They still admitted her.

Janan's story changed when she got inside, agents say, telling a front desk receptionist she was there to attend the IDU Association event scheduled for that evening. No such event was scheduled and agents were summoned. They say she became confrontational, so she was taken off the property and then to the local security office, undergoing about nine hours of questioning. She had arrived in Zamastan two days earlier on a flight from Danaska to Providence.

Her public defender suggested during last week's hearing that Janan may not have been lying but confused by the language barrier. But a security agent wrote in court documents that during questioning Janan read and spoke very well.

A security agent told Ranberman last week that when an agency analyst uploaded the malware found on Janan's thumb drive, it immediately began installing and corrupting his computer's files. The security says when such tests are conducted the computer is not on any network, so no damage was done. Government analysts were still trying to determine the malware's purpose.

Her defender said wire records show Janan paid Z$20,000 in February to Lio Meffee, a Gladysynthian national, for admission to the event. Meffee ran the IDU Association and was photographed at least twice with Cindy Yang, a political donor and former massage parlor owner. She recently made news after it was learned she was promising Gladysynthian business leaders that her consulting firm could get them access to the Zian Presidential Mansion and mingle with the president.