Feds charge exiled Chinese billionaire with crypto fraud The Register

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Meet the newest member of the crypto rogues gallery: Ho Wan Kwok, aka Guo Wengui, aka Miles Guo, who the US Department of Justice arrested on Wednesday for what investigators described as a “sprawling and complex scheme to solicit investments in various entities and programs through misrepresentations and representations to hundreds of thousands of online Kwok subscribers.”

Kwok/Guo has a fascinating history. Born in China, he became a real estate entrepreneur and was listed as a billionaire. He left China in 2014 as multiple controversies swirled around his interests and actions, and in 2017 he was residing in New York and became a vocal critic of the Chinese government, circulating heated theories about its problems and Beijing’s role in these.

His stance appears to have annoyed Beijing: the Australian Strategic Policy Institute think tank has detected a state-backed disinformation campaign portraying him as “corrupt and untrustworthy”.

While living in the United States, Guo made a new friend: Steve Bannon, the right-wing provocateur who served as CEO of Donald Trump’s first campaign for President of the United States and is then became a senior White House counsel. Guo was a strong supporter of TrumpLand on social media, became a member of Trump’s private club, Mar-a-Lago, and supported businesses in which Bannon was involved.

When Bannon was arrested in 2020 for fraud, he was on Guo’s yacht.

Guo has also sought investors in other businesses, and those efforts are the source of the Justice Department’s beef.

One of Guo’s operations was called Himalaya Exchange. The DoJ states that the Exchange offered “a so-called stablecoin called Himalaya Dollar and a coin called Himalaya Coin” and that Himalaya Exchange promised investors that if the value of the coin fell, it would cover all losses.

Those promises were clearly fiction, but Himalaya Exchange nevertheless managed to raise around $262 million from investors, many of whom were lured by misinformation on Guo’s social media accounts.

Himalaya Exchange then conducted labyrinthine transactions that appear to have been intended to line the pockets of Guo and his associates.

That’s why the DoJ on Wednesday charged Guo and his friends with a dozen charges related to charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering. Federal authorities also disclosed that they had seized approximately $634 million from bank accounts linked to Guo and his friends.

“We allege that Guo was a serial fraudster, who raised over $850 million by promising investors outsized returns on alleged crypto, technology and luxury investment opportunities,” Gurbir S said. Grewal, director of the enforcement division of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. .

“In reality, Guo took advantage of the hype and allure surrounding crypto and other investments to victimize thousands of people and fund his and his family’s lavish lifestyle.”

No one can guess how Guo will defend himself. In February, it filed for bankruptcy, claiming assets of less than $100,000 and liabilities of between $100 million and $500 million.

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