Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui found guilty of fraud in US trial
- The fugitive tycoon was convicted after raising over US$1 billion from followers, then spending the money on luxury goods like a red Lamborghini
Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of China’s government and erstwhile business associate of former White House adviser Steve Bannon, was convicted on Tuesday in US federal court on charges of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from online followers.
Prosecutors in Manhattan said Guo raised more than US$1 billion by guaranteeing followers on social media that they would not lose money if they joined him in what the indictment against him called “a series of complex fraudulent and fictitious businesses and investment opportunities”.
Having built a large following on social media, in which he made many unsupported accusations against high-ranking Chinese officials, Guo – who is known by several names, including Miles Kwok and Ho Wan Kwok – had claimed that some of the funds these ventures generated were meant “to advance a movement against the Chinese Communist Party”.
The jury found Guo guilty on all 12 counts against him, including racketeering, securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering, in a trial that lasted seven weeks. He had pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.
Guo has been jailed in New York since his March 2023 arrest. US District Judge Analisa Torres could send him to prison for decades when he is sentenced on November 19.
