James Myers of OAN
Tuesday, June 4, 2024 8:25 AM
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Epoch Times The newspaper has been charged with federal money laundering, according to U.S. authorities.
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The news site’s chief financial officer, Weidong “Bill” Guan, is accused of laundering $67 million in the scheme, according to an indictment filed Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court documents, Guan, 61, loaded the money from the fraudulent unemployment insurance claims onto prepaid debit cards and then used a cryptocurrency platform to purchase the prepaid debit cards at a discount.
Justice Department officials say the plan Epoch Times‘s revenues have grown an astounding 400% in just one year, from $15 million to $62 million.
Guan was in custody Monday night, with bail set at $3 million. The New York Times.
Mr Guan has maintained his innocence and will be subject to house arrest if released.
Additionally, if convicted, Guan faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on the money laundering charge and 30 years in prison on each of the two bank fraud counts detailed in the Department of Justice indictment.
but Epoch Times The indictment released on Monday did not name the company, instead referring to it as a “multinational media company.” Prosecutors said the charges were not related to the media company’s reporting activities.
“ Epoch Times “Our company’s guiding principle is to place above all else integrity in our business dealings, and we intend to cooperate fully with any investigation into the allegations against Mr. Guan,” it said in a written statement.
“For the time being, Mr. Guan remains innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, but the company has suspended him until this matter is resolved.”
In addition, on May 23rd According to an indictment unsealed by federal prosecutors, Guan led a team titled “Make Money Online” in a scheme to use stolen U.S. residents’ identification numbers to obtain unemployment insurance payments and load them onto prepaid debit cards.
As a result, these prepaid debit cards were sold at a discount in exchange for cryptocurrency, “approximately 70 to 80 cents on the dollar,” the indictment alleges.
“Once the purchases were made, the criminal proceeds were deposited into bank accounts belonging to Mr. Guan and his companies,” the report said.
U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said in a media release that Guan “conspired with others to launder tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance payments and other proceeds of crime to benefit himself, media companies and their affiliates.”
“When the bank questioned the funds, Mr. Guan allegedly repeatedly lied and falsely claimed the funds came from legitimate donations to media companies,” Williams said.
of Epoch Times It distributes newspapers in the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Canada.
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