Guo who was named in court papers as Ho Wan Kwok and also goes by Miles Guo and Miles Kwok was convicted of nine out of 12 criminal charges that he pleaded not guilty to, including wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres ordered Guo to forfeit $889 million in restitution. The tycoon “preyed on those seeking to bring democracy to China,” taking their money so he could live lavishly and cost over 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars, Torres said in court, according to The Associated Press.
He was arrested in 2023 on charges that he had defrauded thousands of online followers out of over $1 billion. Wei Chen, a victim who testified at trial, told Torres that Guo’s crimes had “destroyed my life” and that of her family.
Guo seemed to take no responsibility for his actions, Torres said, and instead insists “incredibly” that his conduct caused no loss and didn’t harm anyone.
He had “called upon supporters to harass and intimidate those who dare to speak out against him,” she added. Prosecutors said in court papers that his riches had fueled “a lifestyle of extraordinary excess and indulgence, a gilded life of mansions, yachts, race cars, designer clothes and luxury furnishings.”
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Guo’s lawyers argued in a court filing that he was the victim of the Chinese Communist Party’s “grand, pervasive, and life threatening” pursuit of him.
“The reason I came to the U.S. was to destroy the CCP,” he told a courtroom filled with his supporters Monday, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
Guo portrays himself in interviews and court records as an exiled whistleblower, providing an inside account of corruption at the heart of the Chinese system.
He is also an associate of former Trump White House adviser Steve Bannon, who was arrested on Guo’s yacht in a fraud case in August 2020 — President Donald Trump pardoned Bannon in 2021.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that it had noted the sentencing and that Guo was a fugitive wanted by Interpol on a Red Notice at the request of the Chinese government.
According to prosecutors, he had promised his followers “outsized financial returns” but instead used the money to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Guo made his fortune in real estate and securities and was among China’s richest men when he arrived in the United States in around 2015. He made brief remarks at the criminal hearing Monday, according to The Associated Press.
NBCNEWS
