A self-exiled Chinese language businessman charged in a $1 billion fraud case will stay behind bars after a federal choose rejected a proposed $25 million bail bundle Thursday, saying there was clear and convincing proof he would stay an financial risk and a flight danger if he had been freed.
Decide Analisa Torres stated in a written order that she did not belief that Guo Wengui would obey court docket orders if launched, even with strict bail circumstances together with GPS monitoring and a 24-hour guard. She famous that he faces a most sentence of over 100 years in jail if convicted.
She stated Guo has continued to advertise fraudulent funding alternatives even after funds had been seized from his companies final yr.
CHINESE BUSINESSMAN CHARGED IN $1B FRAUD SCHEME ‘SOCIOPATHIC,’ PROSECUTOR SAYS
Guo, 54, was arrested final month on expenses together with wire and securities fraud. Prosecutors stated he fleeced 1000’s of buyers in too-good-to-be-true choices that promised outsize income for buyers in his media firm, GTV Media Group Inc., his so-called Himalaya Farm Alliance, G’CLUBS and the Himalaya Change.
He has pleaded not responsible.
Since September the U.S. authorities has seized roughly $634 million from 21 financial institution accounts related to Guo, who’s referred to in court docket paperwork by the identify Ho Wan Kwok.
This courtroom sketch exhibits Guo Wengui, heart, standing trial for a billion-dollar fraud scheme. (AP Picture/Elizabeth Williams, File)
Guo has claimed he has solely $10,000 in noncash belongings, although prosecutors say he has management of a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, two $36,000 mattresses and a $37 million luxurious yacht.
It was on Guo’s yacht that Steve Bannon, the previous chief White Home strategist below ex-President Donald Trump, was arrested in a legal fraud case a number of years in the past. Trump pardoned Bannon simply earlier than he left workplace in 2021.
Decide Torres famous in her order Thursday that Guo was accused of utilizing proceeds from a five-year fraud scheme from 2018 by this March to purchase extravagant items and belongings for himself and his household.
NEW YORK INVESTIGATORS PROBING FIRE IN CHINESE BILLIONAIRE’S APARTMENT THAT BROKE OUT HOURS AFTER ARREST
Torres stated Guo accrued a big on-line following in 2017 with claims in opposition to the Chinese language Communist Get together earlier than founding a nonprofit a yr later that drew much more followers. She cited proof that he subsequently marketed fraudulent funding actions to his followers.
Guo was as soon as considered among the many richest folks in China earlier than he left that nation in 2014 throughout a crackdown on corruption that ensnared people near him, together with a prime intelligence official. Chinese language authorities have accused Guo of rape, kidnapping, bribery and different offenses.
Guo has stated these allegations are false and meant to punish him for publicly outing corruption in China and criticizing main figures within the Communist Get together.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Legal professionals for Guo didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark Thursday. A spokesperson for prosecutors declined to remark.
