Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of the Chinese government and a one-time business partner of former White House adviser Steve Bannon, was convicted in a U.S. federal court on Tuesday of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his online followers.
Manhattan prosecutors said Guo raised more than $1 billion by assuring social media followers that they would not lose money if they took part in what the indictment described as a “series of complex, fraudulent and fictitious business and investment opportunities.”
Mr. Guo, who went by several names including Miles Kwok and Ho Wan Kwok, had amassed a large social media following where he made a number of unfounded accusations against senior Chinese officials, but he claimed some of the money he made from these ventures was used to “promote the cause against the Chinese Communist Party.”
After a seven-week trial, a jury found Guo guilty on 12 charges, including organized crime, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Guo had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Guo has been jailed in New York since his arrest in March 2023. He faces decades in prison when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres on Nov. 19.
The defendants “brazenly perpetrated multiple, interrelated fraud schemes to swindle his loyal supporters’ hard-earned money and enable Mr. Guo to spend his days living in a 50,000-square-foot mansion, driving a $1 million Lamborghini, and relaxing on a $37 million yacht,” the prosecution team, led by Juliana Murray, said in a statement shortly after the verdict.
“We commend our office’s expert prosecutors and law enforcement partners for bringing this case and seizing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fraudulent proceeds to ensure justice is achieved for Mr. Guo’s victims,” they said.
Murray’s team says expensive items purchased by Guo with the money included a mansion in New Jersey, a red Lamborghini and a yacht.
Reuters quoted Murray as telling jurors last week that Guo “preyed on a docile following of supporters who believed the message he promoted in hours of broadcasts.”
Guo’s lawyer, Siddhartha Kamaraj, argued that his client was flaunting his wealth as part of a political critique of the Chinese Communist Party, according to Reuters.
“Guo wasn’t interested in money,” Kamaraju was quoted as saying. “He was interested in the movement.”
Murray said, “At least he [the movement] According to Reuters, it was his personal piggy bank.
Kamaraju did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Bannon and Mr. Guo partnered in a media venture and emerged as one of the Trump administration’s most vocal opponents of the Chinese government. Mr. Guo has also been accused of being a spy for Beijing.
In 2021, three media companies named in Guo’s indictment – GTV Media Group, Saraka Media Group and Voice of Guo Media Co. – were ordered by a judge to pay $539 million in fines related to illegal cryptocurrency sales.
Guo is also said to be behind GETTR, a new social media app launched by former President Trump after he was banned from major US platforms such as Twitter and Facebook for inciting the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The app eventually evolved into Truth Social, a flagship asset of the Trump Media & Technology Group.
