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The controversial exiled Chinese billionaire businessman Guo Wengui — an associate of former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon — was arrested in New York on Wednesday for orchestrating what federal prosecutors called a more than $1 billion fraud conspiracy that duped online followers with promises of outsized investment returns.
Guo allegedly used some of the money raised through his company GTV Media and other entities to buy 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 that cost a whopping $36,000 apiece.
Prosecutors said they seized more than $650 million in alleged fraud proceeds from 21 different bank accounts and assets that included a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster automobile as part of the case against Guo and his financial advisor William Je in Manhattan federal court.
The Securities and Exchange Commission separately filed a related civil complaint against the 52-year-old Guo and Je, a resident of the United Kingdom and Hong Kong who remains at large.
Guo, who is known by multiple different names, including Miles Guo and Miles Kwok,” Brother Seven, and The Principal, has lived in the United States since 2015 after fleeing China, reportedly to duck expected corruption charges.
In 2018, he founded two purported nonprofit organizations, the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society, which he used as part of his public relations campaign against the Chinese Communist Party.
Guo “used the nonprofit organizations to amass followers who were aligned with his purported policy objectives in China and who were also inclined to believe [Guo’s} statements regarding investment and money-making opportunities,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.
Guo is due to appear in court Wednesday afternoon.
The SEC accuses Guo and Je of involvement in unregistered and fraudulent financial offerings.
The SEC separately accused Guo of making misrepresentations in raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors through a cryptocurrency asset known as H-Coin.
In August 2020, federal authorities arrested Bannon on a mega-yacht belonging to Guo off the coast of Connecticut on charges related to siphoning off money for the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign. Former President Donald Trump months later pardoned Bannon in that case, shortly before Trump left the White House.
Bannon, who served Trump as senior White House advisor for less than a year, at one point was on the board of directors of the Rule of Law Society.
A grand jury criminal indictment unsealed Wednesday alleges that Guo and Je “conspired to defraud thousands of victims” in the scheme, which spanned from 2018 to this month.
The alleged conspiracy involved the use of different entities and programs to obtain investments from the victims, who were deceived by misrepresentations and false statements, prosecutors said.
“Kwok lied to his victims and promised them outsized returns if they invested, or provided money to, GTV [Media] his so-called Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS, and the Himalaya Exchange,” prosecutors said in a press release.
The defendants are charged with wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering in the criminal case. Je also is charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly trying to transfer money related to the conspiracy to the United Arab Emirates since last September.
Gurbir Grewal, director of the SEC’s enforcement division, said the agency alleges Guo “was a serial fraudster, who raised more than $850 million by promising investors outsized returns on purported crypto, technology and luxury good investment opportunities.”
“In reality, Guo took advantage of the hype and allure surrounding crypto and other investments to victimize thousands and fund his and his family’s lavish lifestyle,” Grewal said.
The SEC’s complaint said that one example of Guo and Je’s alleged fraud was a private placement offering of common stock in GTV Media Group.
“Guo and Je allegedly diverted $100 million of investor funds to a hedge fund for the sole benefit of a company that is owned by Guo’s son,” the SEC said.
And Guo allegedly misappropriated investor proceeds in two other offerings to pay more than $40 million to buy and renovate the New Jersey mansion, and to buy the Ferrari for his son, the SEC said.
Both Guo and Je face possible sentences of up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
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