A US court has convicted self-exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui for defrauding his online followers in a billion-dollar scam.
Found guilty on nine out of 12 criminal counts, including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, Guo faces decades in prison, with sentencing set for November 19.
He has been in custody since his arrest in March 2023.
Guo was a known critic of the Chinese Communist Party and an associate of former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon.
He used several aliases, including Miles Guo, Miles Kwok, and “Brother Seven.”
He was indicted under the name Ho Wan Kwok in 2023.
Prosecutors revealed that from 2018 to 2023, Guo raised over $1 billion from his online followers through investment and cryptocurrency schemes.
The funds financed Guo’s extravagant lifestyle, including a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $1 million Lamborghini, and a $37 million yacht.
US Attorney Damian Williams said: “Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimised so that Guo could live a life of excess,” said US Attorney Damian Williams after the verdict.
Guo’s political activism and connections to prominent right-wing US politicians and activists earned him a large following.
It’s primarily composed of Chinese expatriates in Western countries.
His lawyers argued unsuccessfully Guo was motivated by his opposition to the Chinese political system, not financial gain.
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They claimed his lavish lifestyle was a critique of the Chinese Communist Party.
After arriving in the US in 2017, his vocal opposition to China’s government led to multiple collaborations with Bannon.Â
The two frequently appeared together in online videos and launched the New Federal State of China campaign in 2020, aiming to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party.
In an unrelated incident later that year, Bannon was arrested on Guo’s yacht in Connecticut for fraud charges and was subsequently pardoned by then-President Donald Trump.
Currently, Bannon is serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
