NEW YORK, United States — Chinese businessman and self-styled political dissident Guo Wengui has been sentenced to 30 years in prison in the United States after being convicted of orchestrating a billion-dollar fraud scheme that targeted thousands of his followers.
Guo, also known as Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok, was sentenced by US District Judge Analisa Torres in New York after a jury found him guilty of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering linked to investment and cryptocurrency schemes that prosecutors said defrauded supporters of more than USD1 billion.
In delivering the sentence, Judge Torres said Guo had exploited people who believed in his political activism against China’s Communist Party.
“He preyed on those seeking to bring democracy to China,” the judge said, adding that the money was used to finance his extravagant lifestyle rather than the causes he claimed to support.
The sentence was handed down in a courtroom packed with Guo’s supporters.
US Attorney Sean S. Buckley said the case demonstrated that wealth and public prominence do not shield individuals from criminal accountability.
“Rather than being satisfied with the many legitimate opportunities afforded to him, Guo exploited the trust that thousands had placed in him for his own greed,” Buckley said.
“Today’s sentence shows that fame and wealth do not place you above the law, and that fraudsters who victimise families to enrich themselves will be met with significant consequences.”
Before fleeing China in 2017, Guo amassed a fortune through property development and maintained close ties with senior Chinese government officials. He later sought asylum in the United States after Chinese authorities accused him of corruption.
In exile, Guo reinvented himself as a vocal critic of the Chinese Communist Party, attracting a large online following, particularly among members of the Chinese diaspora.
According to prosecutors, between 2018 and 2023 Guo persuaded supporters to invest in various business ventures and cryptocurrency projects by promising substantial returns while portraying the investments as part of a broader movement against the Chinese government.
Instead, prosecutors said, the funds financed an opulent lifestyle that included a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a USD1 million Lamborghini and a USD37 million luxury yacht.
Guo denied the allegations throughout the trial, maintaining that the money supported his political activism.
The businessman also cultivated ties with conservative political strategist Steve Bannon, a former adviser to US President Donald Trump. In 2020, the pair launched the New Federal State of China, a movement advocating the overthrow of the Chinese Communist Party.
Later that year, Bannon was arrested aboard Guo’s yacht in Connecticut in connection with an unrelated fraud case involving fundraising for a US-Mexico border wall project. While Bannon later pleaded guilty in a state case, separate federal charges were dropped after President Trump issued him a presidential pardon before leaving office.
Guo’s conviction and lengthy prison sentence bring to a close one of the highest-profile financial fraud cases involving a Chinese businessman living in exile in the United States.