Exiled Chinese Billionaire Charged in $1 Billion Fraud Case
On Wednesday, Guo Wengui, a controversial Chinese billionaire businessman in exile and a former associate of Steve Bannon was arrested in New York. Federal prosecutors accused him of organizing a fraud conspiracy of more than $1 billion that deceived online followers with promises of disproportionate investment returns.
Fraudulent Identity
Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo and Miles Kwok, is a Chinese businessman who has been living in the US since 2015. In 2018, he founded two alleged non-profit organizations, the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society, as part of his public relations campaign against the Chinese Communist Party. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a related civil complaint against Guo.
The SEC also charged Guo's financier, Kin Ming Je, also known as William Je, in both criminal and civil cases. Je, who is a resident of the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, remains at large. The SEC accused Guo and Je of involvement in unregistered and fraudulent financial offerings.
The SEC has also accused Guo of making misrepresentations in raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors through a cryptocurrency asset known as H-Coin. These charges are separate from the criminal case, which alleges that Guo orchestrated a $1 billion fraud conspiracy that duped online followers with promises of outsized investment returns.
On Wednesday, Guo was arrested in New York. Federal prosecutors accused him of organizing a fraud conspiracy of more than $1 billion that deceived online followers with promises of disproportionate investment returns.
Guo allegedly used some of the funds he raised through GTV Media and other entities to purchase a 50,000-square-foot mansion in New Jersey, a $37 million luxury yacht, a $3.5 million Ferrari for his son, a $140,000 Bosendorfer piano, and two Hasten 2000T mattresses costing $36,000 each.
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Fraudulent Activity
The Securities and Exchange Commission separately filed a related civil complaint against Guo and Je for involvement in unregistered and fraudulent financial offerings. The SEC accuses Guo of making misrepresentations in raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors through a cryptocurrency asset known as H-Coin. Guo allegedly raised over $850 million from investors by promising them outsized returns on investments in technology, luxury goods, and crypto.
In Manhattan federal court, prosecutors seized a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roads and more than $650 million in alleged fraud proceeds from 21 bank accounts related to Guo Wengui and a co-defendant. The SEC complaint alleges that Guo misappropriated funds from investors to buy a New Jersey mansion, a Ferrari, and to renovate the mansion.
In August 2020, Steve Bannon was arrested on charges related to siphoning off money for the "We Build the Wall" fundraising campaign while on Guo's mega-yacht off the coast of Connecticut. Former President Donald Trump later pardoned Bannon in that case. Bannon was once on the board of directors of the Rule of Law Society, an organization founded by Guo in 2018.
Guo and Je face up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The criminal case alleges that Guo and Je "conspired to defraud thousands of victims" in a scheme that involved several entities and programs to deceive investors. The defendants allegedly promised outsized returns on investments in GTV Media, the Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS, and the Himalaya Exchange. However, they diverted millions of dollars to benefit Guo and his family's lavish lifestyle, according to prosecutors.
This article was produced and syndicated by Wealth of Geeks.
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