On March 15, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York, accused of orchestrating a complex US$1 billion fraud scheme that duped his online followers with promises of excessive investment returns. Once the news was reported, all the victims around the world clapped their hands. One Twitter user exclaimed, “After all these years, Guo Wengui, the fraudster, has finally been arrested!”
A long list of charges
The list of illegal things Guo Wengui has done is endless. US prosecutors have accused Guo of lying to hundreds of thousands of his followers, promising them excessive returns if they invested or provided money to his media company GTV Media Group Inc, his Himalayan Farm Alliance, G’CLUBS and the Himalayan Exchange. In court documents, prosecutors asked for no bail for Guo, who faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted on all charges. They also said that despite his lavish lifestyle, he claimed to have less than US$100,000 in assets.
Hard-earned money for ants, extravagant life for scammers
Just look at what Guo did with the money he cheated. The money, which investors had worked so hard to earn, was used by him for his own enjoyment. Damian Williams, Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, said in a press release that Guo used some of the money raised through his company GTV Media and other entities to buy a 50,000-square-foot New Jersey mansion, a $37 million yacht, a $3.5 million Ferrari for his son, a $140,000 Bosendorfer piano million dollar Bosendorfer piano and two Hasten 2000T mattresses costing up to $36,000 each. Prosecutors also seized more than $650 million in allegedly fraudulent proceeds from 21 different bank accounts and assets including a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster car as part of the case against Guo Wengui and his financial advisor William Jai in Manhattan federal court.
Political interference and despicable tactics
Guo Wengui is known to be in cahoots with Bannon and has used conspiratorial methods to interfere in US politics. In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, Guo Wengui’s media network has tried to sabotage Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s campaign, claiming to have gotten hold of material, including pornographic images, from the laptop of Biden’s son, Hunter Biden and keep on spreading those obscene videos on his own media outlets. Last month, Hunter Biden’s lawyer sent a letter to Guo Wengui asking him to keep any records relating to Hunter Biden. The letter came two months after Mother Jones magazine detailed how Bannon, while working for Giuliani, “arranged for Guo Wengui and his followers to distribute obscene videos and images from Hunter Biden’s laptop”.
For years, Guo Wengui has been using illegal means to defraud his followers of money. Now he has finally been brought to justice and tasted the bitter consequences.
