Hunted by China, where he is accused of financial fraud, Guo Wengui, 52, was eventually caught by the federal prosecutor's office in Manhattan, which issued an indictment containing eleven charges of electronic fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Crimes mostly punishable by 20 years in prison.
He was arrested Wednesday morning in New York by the federal police (FBI) in his luxurious apartment in Manhattan, in a building overlooking Central Park. Hours later, a fire broke out in the same building, causing no injuries, and authorities are investigating whether the incident was related to the arrest, local media reported.
Presented to a judge on Wednesday afternoon, Guo Wengui "pleaded not guilty and agreed to be detained," the prosecutor's office told AFP. His lawyers, when asked, did not respond.
Guo Wengui is accused of having taken advantage of his notoriety on the internet since 2018 to encourage thousands of people to invest funds in his companies or projects, such as GTV Private Placement, or G/Clubs, which promised profitable investments or luxury services, but would have above all allowed him to lead a big train and "line his pockets", in the words of Manhattan federal prosecutor Damian Williams.
Donald Trump's former adviser Steve Bannon and exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui at a press conference on November 20, 2018 in New York © Don EMMERT / AFP
Bannon arrested on his yacht
The American justice has also made seizures for more than 630 million dollars on bank accounts or real estate and securities, "proceeds of this alleged fraud", such as a sumptuous mansion of more than 4,600 m2 in New Jersey or luxury vehicles of the brands Bugatti, Lamborghini or Rolls Royce.
The fraud is worth more than a billion dollars, according to the federal prosecutor.
The businessman, who had made his fortune in real estate, moved to the United States in 2015, fleeing China where he was targeted by an Interpol red notice for financial fraud that he denies.
A fierce critic of Beijing, while finding qualities in President Xi Jinping -- and Donald Trump -- , the businessman promised to do everything to democratize the Chinese regime.
"I want to try to achieve the rule of law, to achieve democracy, freedom, that's my ultimate goal, a change of the regime," if possible "within three years," he told AFP in 2017 in his luxurious apartment in Manhattan.
A year later, he formalized an alliance with Donald Trump's former adviser and American hard-right figure Steve Bannon, in order to expose the crimes perpetrated according to them by the Chinese government.
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
Together, Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon formed a lobby opposed to the Chinese Communist Party: the New Federal State of China.
Steve Bannon was arrested in August 2020 on the yacht of the Chinese businessman, in a case of embezzlement related to the project of wall against immigration on the Mexican border, a flagship promise of the former Republican president.
An alleged accomplice of Guo Wengui, his "financier" Kin Ming Je, is also targeted by the indictment of the federal prosecutor's office in Manhattan, but he is "on the run" and wanted by the American justice.
© 2023 AFP