Zhao Shilan, ex-wife of former Chinese government official Qiao Jianjun, attempts to avoid reporters' cameras outside a court in Los Angeles, U.S., on May 19, 2015. In March, the U.S. Justice Department indicted Qiao, a former director of a Chinese state-run grain storage facility in central China, and Zhao Shilan for allegedly funnelling stolen money into the United States and obtaining U.S. visas fraudulently. [Photo: Chinanews.com]

The case of Zhao Shilan, a Chinese woman accused of immigration fraud, money laundering and other crimes, has been adjourned for the second time in Los Angeles, in the United States.

The next trial hearing has been set for February 28, 2017.

Daniel H. Deng, a Chinese-American attorney who specializes in criminal cases, says Zhao's properties in the US are very likely to be confiscated.

"In many criminal cases, to prove the government's confiscation is unreasonable, the defendant must give evidence to prove the properties were legally obtained. In this case, unless Zhao's family can prove all the money sources were clean and have nothing to do with their old positions, it will be very difficult for them to get the properties back."

Zhao's ex-husband Qiao Jianjun, a former official with a branch of China's government grain storage, allegedly embezzled money and fled to the US in 2011.

Taking this allegation into account, another attorney Michael Jun Zhang has suggested the basic outline of the case is unlikely to change despite the adjournment.

"One of the basic legal requirements for investment migration is that the money must be legally gained, but in Zhao's case it was illegal, which if proved by the prosecutor, her 'investment migration' would be false, and immigration fraud would be proved."

Zhao was arrested in March, 2015 and appeared at a custody hearing in Los Angeles on May 18, 2015, when the judge announced the date for the first trial hearing would be July 14.

However, the hearing was postponed to April 6, 2016 due to its complexity.