The chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, a New York-based weekly newspaper critical of the Chinese government, has been charged by federal investigators with money laundering, U.S. authorities said.
According to an indictment filed Monday by the U.S. Department of Justice, Weidong “Bill” Guan, the CFO of the news site, which also distributes newspapers in the U.S., Britain, France and Canada, is alleged to have laundered $67 million in the scheme.
According to court documents, Guan, 61, of Secaucus, New Jersey, used a cryptocurrency platform to purchase prepaid debit cards at a discount that were loaded with money obtained from fraudulent unemployment insurance claims.
Justice Department officials said the alleged scheme caused The Epoch Times’ revenue to increase nearly 400 percent, from $15 million to $62 million, in just one year.
Guan was in custody Monday night, with bail set at $3 million. According to the New York Times.
Guan has pleaded not guilty and will be placed under house arrest if released.
If convicted, Guan faces up to 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 Justice Department indictment.
The indictment released on Monday did not name The Epoch Times, instead referring to it as a “multinational media company.” Prosecutors said the charges were unrelated to the media company’s reporting activities.
The media outlet, which has ties to the Chinese spiritual movement Falun Gong, said in a statement that it would cooperate with the federal investigation.
“The Epoch Times is guided by the principle that honesty in business dealings is paramount. We intend to, and will continue to, cooperate fully with any investigation into the allegations against Mr. Seki,” 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.”
Founded in 2000, the Epoch Times promotes Falun Gong, a spiritual movement banned by China’s Communist regime, and has been a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump.
The Washington Post has reached out to the Epoch Times and the Department of Justice for comment.
According to an indictment handed down on May 23 by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Guan, who led a team dubbed “Making Money Online,” used stolen U.S. citizen ID numbers to obtain unemployment insurance payments and deposit them into prepaid debit cards.
The debit cards were then sold in exchange for cryptocurrency at a discounted price of “approximately 70 to 80 cents on the dollar,” according to the indictment.
“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.
