Chinese businessman Guo Wengui has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the United States after being convicted of running a massive fraud scheme that prosecutors said raised more than US$1 billion (approximately RM4.2 billion) from supporters.
Guo, once regarded as one of China’s wealthiest property developers, fled to the United States in 2017 after facing corruption allegations in China. While living in exile, he reinvented himself as a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party and built a large online following.
A federal court in New York found him guilty of multiple offences, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
During sentencing, Judge Analisa Torres said Guo had exploited individuals who believed they were supporting efforts to promote democracy in China, instead using their money to finance an extravagant lifestyle.
The BBC reported that it had contacted Guo’s representatives for comment.
Known by several names, including Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok, Guo was sentenced in a courtroom filled with supporters.
US attorney Sean S. Buckley said the case demonstrated that wealth and public influence do not place anyone above the law.
According to prosecutors, Guo collected more than US$1 billion between 2018 and 2023 through investment and cryptocurrency schemes promoted to his online followers.
Authorities alleged the money was used to fund luxury purchases, including a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a US$1 million (about RM4.2 million) Lamborghini and a US$37 million (around RM156 million) yacht.
Guo denied the allegations, maintaining that the funds were intended to support his political activism.
Before leaving China, Guo had accumulated substantial wealth through property development and was known to have close ties with senior Chinese officials.
He later sought asylum in the United States after being accused of corruption by Chinese authorities and subsequently became one of Beijing’s most outspoken overseas critics.
Guo also developed a close relationship with Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump.
The pair frequently appeared together in online broadcasts and, in 2020, launched the New Federal State of China campaign, which sought to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party.
Later that year, Bannon was arrested aboard Guo’s yacht in Connecticut in connection with a separate fraud case involving fundraising for a private US-Mexico border wall project.
Bannon later pleaded guilty in a Manhattan court to a charge of first-degree scheme to defraud and received a three-year conditional discharge sentence.
He had also faced separate federal charges linked to the border wall campaign, but those proceedings ended after then-President Donald Trump granted him a presidential pardon during the final hours of his first term in office.
