US authorities arrest Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui for allegedly defrauding thousands

Guo Wengui, China's billionaire and proclaimed dissident, has been arrested on Wednesday for allegedly defrauding thousands of followers out of more than $1 billion through complex investment schemes, reported CNN. The news was announced by the US prosecutors who said that Guo has not used the money the way he had promised potential investors. Instead, he put the funds to invest in a hedge fund to benefit his media company GTV Media Group and a relative, a New Jersey mansion, to cover the maintenance payments for his $37 million, a 145-foot luxury yacht, and a custom-built Bugatti sports car valued at $4.4 million. 

China's billionaire Guo arrested 

Guo, who is popularly known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo, had been denied bail by the federal judge. Guo has been known for his staunch criticism of the Chinese government and has been exiled to Manhattan. On Wednesday, March 15, he was taken into custody in New York, US. He was also a close aid to former US President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon. Guo was held for misusing the investor money using different schemes "including his media company GTV Media Group, a farm loan programme through Himalaya Farm Alliance, and a cryptocurrency called Himalaya Coin", reported CNN.

Guo Wengui had co-founded two nonprofit organisations - the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation. He had used these two organisations to attract investors who believed in many of his ideas, alleged by the prosecutors. These nonprofit organisations have been linked to "a group promoting the theory that the novel coronavirus was likely engineered in a Chinese lab", reported CNN. Together, Guo and Bannon (who was an advisor to Former US President Trump) had co-founded the Rule of Law organisations, however, Bannon has not been charged for this case. Notably, in 2020, Bannon was arrested on Guo’s yacht in a separate fraud case. Meanwhile, when the FBI was investigating and searching his apartment on Wednesday, a fire broke out. However, the cause of the fire is yet to be discovered and is under investigation. There has been no comment from Guo’s lawyer on the matter.