Chinese exiled billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Miles Guo, was convicted by a U.S. jury on Tuesday of multiple charges, including racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud.
“A unanimous jury just found Miles Guo guilty of racketeering conspiracy and multiple counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He could face decades in prison,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. name.
Guo was arrested in March 2023 on charges of orchestrating a fraud scheme involving more than $1 billion in cryptocurrencies. On Tuesday, he was found guilty on nine of 12 counts, primarily for soliciting investments from various entities through false statements and representations to hundreds of thousands of online followers.
“Guo’s thousands of online followers were victimized to live a life of excess,” prosecutors said. “Miles Guo, an exiled Chinese businessman and alleged billionaire, shamelessly executed several interconnected fraudulent schemes, all designed to rip off his loyal followers’ hard-earned money so he could live out his days in a 50,000-square-foot mansion, driving a million-dollar Lamborghini or lounging on a $37 million yacht.”
After Guo’s arrest in 2023, the DOJ said At the time, Guo had obtained over $262 million in victim funds through Himalaya Exchange (a cryptocurrency ecosystem). The DOJ added that it had seized approximately $634 million from 21 other bank accounts related to the alleged fraud.
The Securities and Exchange Commission also Charged Guo set up a fraudulent scheme in March 2023 to raise hundreds of millions of dollars from investors through a crypto asset security called “H-Coin” or “Himalaya Coin.” The scheme was carried out by falsely stating that 20% of the coin’s value was backed by gold and that “he would personally compensate investors for any potential losses.”
According to CNN, Guo’s lawyers at the time of his trial portrayed him as a political exile who had to use cryptocurrency to siphon money away from an oppressive regime. ReportedGuo, who claimed to have been expelled from China in 2014, is known for his criticism of China’s ruling Communist Party, which has earned him significant support among the overseas Chinese community.
Guo is also known as a close ally of Steve Banon, Donald Trump’s former strategist. In 2020, the two announce A plan called the New Federation of China to overthrow the Chinese government.
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