Chinese businessman Guo Wengui, also known by several names including Miles Guo, was convicted by a New York jury on Wednesday on nine of 12 charges in connection with a multi-billion-dollar fraud scheme.
Guo is was found guilty He is charged with racketeering, money laundering, wire fraud and securities fraud for allegedly defrauding thousands of online followers out of more than $1 billion between 2018 and 2023 using various investment and cryptocurrency schemes.
Guo is accused of spending his money on what prosecutors called a “lavish lifestyle,” which included huge mansions, yachts, luxury sports cars, a portfolio of expensive real estate and a vast collection of other luxury items.
U.S. Attorney Damien Williams Said On Wednesday, it declared that Guo’s “scheme” to deceive his supporters into living a “luxurious lifestyle” had “ended.”
Guo was a successful property developer in China before moving to the United States in 2015 and becoming an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party. Particularly popular Some Chinese expatriates shared his contempt for the Chinese regime and were heartened by his claim that he had information that could topple it.
Castle Established In 2018, he dissolved the two “non-profit” organizations and founded GTV Media Group in partnership with Steve Bannon, the former chairman of Breitbart News Network and former White House strategist for President Trump, who is also a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party.
According to prosecutors, Guo sold about $452 million in GTV common stock to more than 5,500 investors in 2020, promising to develop GTV into a multimedia powerhouse. At one point, Guo told potential investors that GTV had a market capitalization of “$2 billion.” He also used his reputation as a Chinese real estate tycoon and investment genius to pitch investors a complex network of real estate and other investments, and promote his own cryptocurrency.
Guo’s victims say they were forced to pay large sums of money to buy exclusive access to him and to join a prestigious online investment club he founded. It reportedly cost more than $100,000 to join Guo’s “inner circle.” Among Guo’s targets were: talked They also considered taking out a second mortgage on their home to buy Guo’s expensive, ultimately worthless, investments.
“It gradually became clear that he never delivered on his promises,” said one of Guo’s disappointed Chinese investors. Said BBC on Wednesday.
Prosecutors alleged that Guo used almost all of the money he scammed from investors and political supporters to fund an incredibly lavish lifestyle. He eventually declared bankruptcy in 2023 and listed his net worth as less than $100,000.
Prosecutors argued that Guo’s multi-billion dollar lifestyle was part of a fraud designed to trick the defendants into believing he was a huge success in the American business environment and that they could join him in his easy life.
Guo’s lawyers argued that his extravagance was an attempt to “spit on the Chinese Communist Party” and that “being wealthy is not a crime.” They said everything Guo did was aimed at bringing down the Chinese Communist Party and that they were orchestrating his eventual downfall.
“This is not a fraud. It is a political stunt,” Guo’s lawyer, Siddhartha Kamaraj, told the court.
The jury was not convinced by this defense, returning guilty verdicts on nine of the 12 counts. Some of the convictions carry potential penalties of more than 20 years in prison. He was arrested in March 2023 and has been in custody since then. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 19th.
