The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a press release on Monday that The Epoch Times’ Chief Financial Officer, Weidong Guan, also known as Bill Guan, was arrested for his alleged involvement in a money laundering scheme.
Guan, 61, was arrested and charged with participating in a money laundering scheme that illegally obtained at least $67 million in illicit funds. according to The indictment was unsealed by the Southern District of New York and reveals the scope of criminal conduct that allegedly began in 2020 and continued through May 2024, according to a news release.
The chief financial officer of the conservative international news media outlet The Epoch Times has been arrested and indicted on charges of leading a years-long scheme to launder at least $67 million in illegal funds, according to federal prosecutors. https://t.co/p68jJarIsg
— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 3, 2024
“Allegedly, Bill Guan, chief financial officer of a global newspaper and media company, conspired with others to launder tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and other proceeds of crime to benefit himself, the media company and its affiliates,” U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a statement.
Guan is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud. The money laundering count carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years, and the bank fraud counts each carry a maximum prison sentence of 30 years, according to a news release. Guan was in charge of the company’s “make money online” team, which was based in its overseas offices. (Related: Fact Check: No, this video does not show John Kennedy exposing a “money laundering scheme”)
A clerk poses with US dollar bills at a currency exchange office in Jakarta on May 2, 2024. (Photo by ADEK BERRY/AFP via Getty Images)
Under his direction, the team engaged in purchasing criminal proceeds, including fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, using cryptocurrency, the indictment said. statedThese proceeds were then loaded onto prepaid debit cards and purchased at discounted prices, effectively laundering large sums of money through various accounts, including those of media companies.
The scheme came under scrutiny after banks raised concerns about suspicious spikes in transactions. Guan allegedly misled those banks by claiming the funds were legitimate donations to the media companies. But Guan refuted that in a letter to his congressional office in 2022, saying the donations were a “minor portion of my total income,” fueling further suspicions, according to the Justice Department.
