Exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui convicted in billion-dollar fraud scheme

Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire known for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party and close ties with American conservatives, was convicted by a U.S. jury on Tuesday of defrauding his online followers of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Guo, who went by multiple aliases such as "Miles Kwok" and "Ho Wan Kwok," garnered a substantial online following through his YouTube videos in which he criticized the Chinese communist government. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accused Guo of raising more than $1 billion by guaranteeing his thousands of followers that they would not lose money if they invested in his various business and cryptocurrency schemes.

Prosecutors said Guo used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle, such as purchasing a New Jersey mansion, a red Lamborghini and a yacht. Following a seven-week trial, Guo was convicted Tuesday of nine of 12 criminal counts he faced, including racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud.

He faces decades in prison, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres set his sentencing for Nov. 19.

"Miles Guo, an exiled Chinese businessman and purported billionaire, brazenly operated several interrelated fraud schemes, all designed to fleece his loyal followers out of their hard-earned money so that Guo could spend his days in his 50,000 square foot mansion, driving his $1 million Lamborghini, or lounging on his $37 million yacht," Williams said in a statement.

"Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimized so that Guo could live of a life of excess," Williams added. "Today, Guo’s schemes have been put to an end."

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$1 billion dollar fraud conspiracy lasted several years

Guo was arrested in March 2023 in New York after federal authorities accused him of operating a "sprawling and complex scheme" between 2018 and 2023, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. He was initially charged with 12 criminal counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

Prosecutors said Guo, along with his business partner Kin Ming Je, solicited more than $1 billion of investments in various entities and ventures through false statements and representations. The scheme involved lying to victims about their investments and promising them "outsized returns" if they provided money to Guo's multiple entities, including GTV Media, the Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS, and the Himalaya Exchange, according to prosecutors.

During the trial, prosecutor Juliana Murray said Guo used the illicit funds as his "personal piggy bank" to maintain his lavish lifestyle in the United States. During his closing argument last week, prosecutor Ryan Finkel played videos of Guo pitching investments, including several in which Guo stood on a yacht deck.

Guo and Je laundered the money to multiple bank accounts and made expensive purchases such as a 50,000 square foot New Jersey mansion, a custom Bugatti sports car for $4.4 million, a Ferrari worth $3.5 million, a $37 million luxury yacht and a $62,000 television, according to prosecutors. Guo also purchased furniture and decorative items, including Chinese and Persian rugs worth about $978,000.

Je, a dual citizen of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, is still at large, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Je was charged 11 of the same charges as Guo but faces an additional 20 years maximum in prison for obstruction of justice.

Federal authorities also arrested and charged a co-conspirator of Guo and Je in March 2023. Yanping Wang, also known as "Yvette Wang," was charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering, according to a complaint.

Who is Guo Wengui?

The business tycoon was once believed to be among the richest people in China, The Associated Press reported. Guo left China in late 2014 and came to the U.S. seeking asylum, accusing Chinese officials of corruption.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said Guo has resided in the United States since around 2015 and gained a large online following that "aligned with his purported policy objectives in China and who were also inclined to believe (Guo's) statements regarding investment and money-making opportunities." CNN reported that Guo had amassed his followers through livestreaming events.

In 2017, Guo's lawyer told The New York Times that the billionaire was seeking asylum because his criticism of Chinese officials made him "a political opponent of the Chinese regime." Guo's assets were seized by the governments of China and Hong Kong in 2017 during money laundering investigations, according to CNN.

Guo was also an ally of Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser to former President Donald Trump. During the trial, Finkel showed jurors Bannon promoting one of Guo's ventures at a news conference in 2018, Reuters reported.

Bannon was arrested in August 2020 on Guo's yacht in an unrelated fraud case and was later pardoned by Trump. He was then convicted in 2022 for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021.

Bannon began his four-month prison sentence earlier this month.

Contributing: Amritpal Kaur Sandhu-Longoria, Maureen Groppe, and Bart Jansen, USA TODAY; Reuters