The Block：郭文贵诈骗案定罪

Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire also known as Miles Guo, was convicted by a U.S. jury on Tuesday on several counts, including racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud. “Moments ago, a unanimous jury found Miles Guo guilty of racketeering conspiracy and various securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering charges. He faces decades in prison,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. Guo was arrested in March 2023 on suspicion of orchestrating a more than $1 billion fraud conspiracy that included cryptocurrency. On Tuesday, he was found guilty of nine out of 12 counts, primarily soliciting investments in various entities through false statements and representations to hundreds of thousands of his online followers. “Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimized so that Guo could live of a life of excess,” the prosecutor said. “Miles Guo, an exiled Chinese businessman and purported billionaire, brazenly operated several interrelated fraud schemes, all designed to fleece his loyal followers out of their hard-earned money so that Guo could spend his days in his 50,000 square foot mansion, driving his $1 million Lamborghini, or lounging on his $37 million yacht.” Following Guo’s arrest in 2023, the DOJ said at the time that Guo obtained more than $262 million in victim funds through the Himalaya Exchange, a purported cryptocurrency ecosystem. The DOJ added that it had seized about $634 million from 21 different bank accounts linked to the alleged fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission also charged Guo in March 2023 with a fraud scheme that raised hundreds of millions of dollars from investors through a crypto asset security referred to as “H-Coin” or “Himalaya Coin” by falsely stating that 20% of the coin’s value was backed by gold and that “he would personally compensate investors for any potential losses.” During the trial, Guo’s lawyer described him as a political exile who had to use cryptocurrency to move money from an oppressive regime, CNN reported. Guo, who claimed to have been exiled from China in 2014, is known for his criticism of China’s ruling Communist Party, which gained him a huge following among the overseas Chinese community. Guo is also known as a close ally of Steve Banon, a former strategist of Donald Trump. In 2020, the two announced an initiative called the New Federal State of China, seeking to overthrow the Chinese government.