Exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, an associate of former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon, was arrested by federal authorities in New York Wednesday morning, accused of orchestrating a $1 billion fraud scheme, prosecutors announced.
Guo, charged in court papers as Ho Wan Kwok and who also goes by Miles Guo and Miles Kwok, was charged with 12 counts including wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering in an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a news release.
The same day the news of his arrest came to light, Guo’s New York City apartment was found on fire, a source familiar with the matter said. The FBI had to be evacuated during their search when the blaze broke out, after he was already in custody, the source said.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Guo had led a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of over $1 billion.
Guo, alongside his alleged co-conspirator Kin Ming Je, also known as William Je, are accused of taking advantage of Guo’s online presence to solicit investments into various companies and programs by “promising outsized financial returns and other benefits,” prosecutors said. They then misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars of fraudulently obtained funds, which Guo allegedly used on a lavish lifestyle.
“Kwok is charged with lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself, and his close relatives, a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht,” Williams said.
Kin Ming Je, Guo’s financier, was also charged in the indictment, hit with a further charge of obstruction of justice and has not been arrested yet.
Attorney information for Guo and Kin Ming Je was not immediately available Wednesday.
The U.S. government has seized $634 million in alleged fraud proceeds from 21 different bank accounts as well as assets purchased with proceeds of the alleged fraud including a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roads, prosecutors said.
Jonathan Dienst contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
