Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo or Miles Kwok, has been found guilty by a US court on nine criminal charges, including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, in connection with a billion-dollar scam targeting his online followers.
Guo, a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party and former associate of ex-White House strategist Stephen Bannon, faces sentencing on November 19, with potential decades in prison looming since his arrest in March 2023.
Prosecutors detailed that Guo amassed over $1 billion from online followers through investment and cryptocurrency schemes between 2018 and 2023. The funds allegedly fueled Guo’s opulent lifestyle, which featured a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $1 million Lamborghini, and a $37 million yacht.
US Attorney Damian Williams condemned Guo’s actions: “Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimized so that Guo could live a life of excess.”
Guo’s defence unsuccessfully argued that his motivations were political rather than financial, portraying his luxurious lifestyle as a critique of China’s political system.
Guo’s arrival in the US in 2017 marked his collaboration with Bannon on various ventures, including the 2020 launch of the New Federal State of China campaign, which aimed to oppose the Chinese Communist Party.
Bannon, arrested on unrelated fraud charges in 2020 while aboard Guo’s yacht, was later pardoned by then-President Donald Trump and is currently serving a sentence for contempt of Congress.
The verdict underscores the international dimensions of financial fraud and political activism, resonating with large Chinese communities in China and Western countries.
