Guo Wengui, a self-exiled Chinese businessman and ardent critic of China’s communist government was convicted Tuesday in New York City by a U.S. jury on nine of 12 counts that included racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud.
His sentencing date is scheduled for Nov. 19. He is likely facing decades in prison.
During the nearly two-month trial, prosecutors told the story of the luxurious lifestyle of Guo. They said Guo deceived hundreds of thousands of his social media followers and convinced them to place their money into bogus investments. Instead of growing his investors’ nest eggs, he used the money to fund his lifestyle, which included a New Jersey mansion, a Connecticut estate, a red Lamborghini, a yacht and $36,000 mattresses.
Federal prosecutors said investors handed over more than $1 billion to Guo, who promised them that their money would be safe if they invested with him.
“I’m rich. I’ll take care of you,” is what Guo told his online followers about his investing ventures, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Finkel told the jury. Guo also told his investors that some of the funds from the investments and cryptocurrency schemes would go toward financing challenges to China’s government.
Guo produced hundreds of broadcasts and videos promising that investing with him would be safe, according to Finkel, who also said Guo “spouted devious lies to trick his followers into giving him money.”
“Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimized so that Guo could live a life of excess,” Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement after the verdict.
Guo, who led the massive fraud from 2018 to 2023, was arrested in 2023.
“It’s not a crime to be wealthy,” defense lawyer Sidhardha Kamaraju told the jury. “It’s not a crime to have a yacht or a jet or to wear nice suits. … It may be odd. It may even be off-putting to some, but it’s not a crime.”
“Mr. Guo didn’t care about the money,” Kamaraju said, describing his client as the “founder and face” of a pro-Chinese democracy movement.
“He cared about the movement,” in a reference to his client’s opposition to China’s communist government.
Guo left China in 2014 during an anti-corruption crackdown and applied for asylum in the U.S. He is accused of rape, kidnapping and bribery in China, allegations Guo says are untrue.
Once in the U.S., he settled in New York City and eventually developed a relationship with Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser to former U.S. President Donald Trump. The jury was shown a video of Bannon promoting one of Guo’s schemes.
In 2020, Bannon was arrested on Guo’s yacht in an unrelated fraud case.
Some information for this story came from Reuters and The Associated Press.
