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Pro-Trump Chinese Businessman Miles Guo Arrested in the US Over Alleged US$1 Billion Fraud Conspiracy

Miles Guo, a Chinese businessman and internet media personality with close ties to former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, has been arrested on various charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering. 


According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York, Miles Guo was arrested in the morning of March 15 for allegedly orchestrating an over US$1 billion fraud conspiracy. Over US$630 million of alleged fraud proceeds were seized by the U.S. Government. 

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), announced the unsealing of a twelve-count Indictment charging Guo as well as his financier Kin Ming Je with various wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering charges.  

The defendants allegedly solicited "investments in various entities and programs through false statements and representations to hundreds of thousands of Guo’s online followers," and "misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained funds during the course of their conspiracy."

Guo was arrested on Wednesday (March 15) morning in New York, while Kin Ming Je remains at large. 

Guo Wengui (Chinese: éƒ­ę–‡č“µ) is known by various aliases, listed in the Indictment as "Ho Wan Kwok," "Miles Kwok," "Brother Seven," and "The Principal." 

Guo Wengui was a well-known business tycoon in the People's Republic of China (PRC), with ties to powerful government officials. In 2014 he was the 74th richest person in the country with a net worth of $2.6 billion. His most high-profile property development project was the Pangu Plaza, a torch-shaped building close to many of the 2008 Beijing Olympic venues.

Guo fell out of favour with the regime in 2014. The following year Li You, one of his business partners, was arrested by police on corruption charges. Ma Jian, a former state security vice minister who was reportedly close to Guo, was detained in 2016 on charges of bribery and abuse of power and subsequently sentenced to life in prison.

Guo Wengui fled the PRC in 2014 to avoid corruption charges. PRC authorities accused him of paying 60 million RMB in bribes to Ma Jian.  

Guo settled in the United States and became an outspoken opponent of the Chinese Communist regime with a substantial internet presence. He claimed to have ample evidence of corruption against PRC leader Xi Jinping and his allies. 

Guo reportedly first met Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon in 2017, and the two became close associates, often appearing together on Guo's internet channel. 

In June of 2020, Bannon and Gui livestreamed a press conference on a boat in New York Harbor in which they announced the creation of an alternative Chinese government, called the New Federal State of China. "The news conference ended with Guo enthusiastically chanting a slogan condemning the Chinese Communist Party and planting a kiss on Bannon's cheek," NPR reported. 

In August 2020, Steve Bannon was arrested by federal agents on a yacht owned by Guo Wengui off Westbrook, Connecticut, on fraud charges. 

Regarding Guo's indictment, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated: "As alleged, Ho Wan Kwok, known to many as 'Miles Guo,' led a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of over $1 billion dollars. Kwok is charged with lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself, and his close relatives, a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht. 

Guo Wengui's 50,000 square foot New Jersey mansion, via US Department of Justice 

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"As alleged, Kwok lied to his victims and promised them outsized returns if they invested, or provided money to, GTV, his so-called Himalaya Farm Alliance, G|CLUBS, and the Himalaya Exchange. 

"Kwok is further charged with laundering hundreds of millions of stolen funds to conceal the conspiracy’s illegal activities and continue the fraud’s operations."

Guo founded two nonprofit organizations, the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society, and "used them to amass followers who were aligned with his purported policy objectives in China and who were also inclined to believe his statements regarding investment and money-making opportunities," the Indictment says.

One of the schemes involved Guo's GTV Media Group, Inc. In April 2020, he posted a video on social media announcing the unregistered offering of GTV Media Group, Inc. common stock via a private placement.  Guo touted GTV as a wide-ranging media company. He described "the investment terms for the GTV Private Placement, and directed people to contact him, via a mobile messaging application, with any questions about the GTV Private Placement. The video and GTV Private Placement materials included a written 'Confidential Information Memorandum' (the 'PPM').  The PPM stated on the cover 'Everything Is Just the Beginning!,' provided information about GTV, and contained false representations regarding how the money raised from the GTV Private Placement would be used."

The Indictment further states: 

"Between on or about April 20, 2020 and on or about June 2, 2020, approximately $452 million worth of GTV common stock was purportedly sold to more than 5,500 investors. Investors participated in the GTV Private Placement based, in part, on the belief that their money would be invested into GTV to develop and grow that business, as the PPM promised.  In early June 2020, just days after the GTV Private Placement closed, [Guo] and JE directed that $100 million of funds raised from the GTV Private Placement be invested in a high-risk hedge fund for the benefit of GTV’s parent company and its ultimate beneficial owner who was a close family relative of [Guo]."

Guo Wengui was charged with the following eleven counts: 

•1 Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Bank Fraud, Securities Fraud and Money Laundering (maximum penalty: 5 years in prison).

•2 Wire Fraud (GTV Private Placement) (20 years in prison).

•3 Securities Fraud (GTV Private Placement) (20 years in prison).

•4 Wire Fraud (Farm Loan Program) (20 years in prison).

•5 Securities Fraud (Farm Loan Program) (20 years in prison).

•6 Wire Fraud (G|CLUBS) (20 years in prison).

•7 Securities Fraud (G|CLUBS) (20 years in prison).

•8 Wire Fraud (Himalaya Exchange) (20 years in prison).

•9 International Promotional Money Laundering (20 years in prison). 

•10 International Concealment Money Laundering (20 years in prison).

•11 Unlawful Monetary Transactions (10 years in prison).

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