Guo Wengui, 52, was arrested "this morning in New York" and the federal prosecutor's office in Manhattan charged him with 11 charges of "wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering," prosecutor Damian Williams' office said in a statement.
The one who presented himself as a fierce critic of the Chinese communist regime and a fervent defender of democracy, while maintaining links with the sulphurous figure of the American right Steve Bannon, now faces several sentences of 20 years in prison.
"I want to try to achieve a state of law, to arrive at democracy, freedom, that's my ultimate goal, a change of the regime," if possible "within three years," he said in an interview with AFP in 2017, in his luxurious apartment in Manhattan. He firmly denied the accusations of fraud against him in China.
"Ho Wan Kwok, also known as +Miles Guo+," or Guo Wengui, "led a complex fraud aimed at defrauding thousands of people who follow him online," the prosecutor said Wednesday.
Exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, a controversial figure claiming to be an opponent of the Chinese regime, in New York during a press conference, January 27, 2019 © Don EMMERT / AFP / Archives
According to the American justice, the victims were promised juicy profits if they invested in the companies of the businessman.
"Kwok is accused of having filled his pockets with the money he stole, in particular by buying, as well as his relatives, a mansion of more than 4,600 m2, a Ferrari at $ 3.5 million," adds Damian Williams, who also lists "two mattresses of $ 36,000" and the financing of "a luxury yacht worth $ 37 million".
The federal prosecutor's office added that about $634 million, "proceeds of this alleged fraud" had been seized from bank accounts in 2022 and 2023, as well as assets such as a "Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roads".
An alleged accomplice, Kin Ming Je, considered Guo Wengui's financier, is on the run and wanted by US justice, the prosecutor's office added.
© 2023 AFP