Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui seeks US$25 million bail, says he’d be worse off if he fled New York
- The billionaire argued that absconding would endanger him more as it would expose him to Beijing that has long targeted him and his family
- Guo is accused of cheating thousands of victims out of more than US$1 billion using ‘a series of complex fraudulent investment opportunities’
Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, asked to be released on a US$25 million bond, arguing he’s not a flight risk. He noted that he hadn’t left the US since 2017, when he sought political asylum in the country. In fact, he argued that fleeing would endanger him more as it would expose him to the Chinese Communist Party that has long targeted him and his family.
“Mr. Kwok likely would face a fate far worse than incarceration in the United States should he attempt to flee,” Guo’s lawyers wrote in a letter on Friday to the judge overseeing his case.
Guo, who’s detained in the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn, New York, has a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
He and his financial adviser, Kin Ming Je, were charged with conspiracy, wire and securities fraud and money laundering.
Prosecutors claim the two conspired to cheat thousands of victims out of more than US$1 billion using “a series of complex fraudulent and fictitious businesses and investment opportunities,” according to the indictment. More than US$300 million of the proceeds were alleged to have benefited them and their families.
