Guo Wengui, a Chinese billionaire and associate of Steve Bannon, was denied bail on Thursday after being charged in a $1 billion fraud case in March. https://t.co/q0Ojt7A1ah
— NBC News (@NBCNews) April 23, 2023
Given the individuals involved, it’s very difficult (at least for me) to tell how much of Guo Wengui’s recent career is bog-standard grifting, how much is Republican / authoritarian attempts at ratf*cking, and how much just might be supported by hostile foreign actors:
… U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres rejected Guo’s proposed bail package, saying he must remain behind bars pending trial because there is “no condition or set of conditions” that would ensure his return to court or the safety of the community, according to the court order.
Torres said Guo “has means and know-how to flee.” While law enforcement officials have confiscated two passports and copies of another passport from Guo, the judge said a “clever defendant with sufficient resources could figure out a way to leave the country without travel documents.”
It was on Guo’s yacht that Bannon, the former chief White House strategist and adviser to former President Donald Trump, was arrested in a fraud case in 2020. Trump pardoned Bannon in 2021.
In hopes of obtaining bail, Guo’s lawyer, Stephen Cook, said in a court filing that Guo would remain in the country if he was released on bond, “because the risk to his life is simply too great for him to leave.” …
Guo is an exiled Chinese businessman and has lived in the United States since around 2015. He was arrested and charged by federal authorities in New York in March for allegedly orchestrating a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of more than $1 billion.
Prosecutors allege that Guo promised his followers “outsized financial returns and other benefits.” Guo then misappropriated hundreds of millions of dollars of the fraudulently obtained funds, which went towards his lavish lifestyle…
Meanwhile, the judge said GPS monitoring for Guo would be “inadequate,” because “ankle monitors can be removed and ensure only a reduced head start should a defendant decide to flee.” Torres also nixed his suggestion of using private security, citing that it’s “not as reliable as a federal jail.”
“Further, Defendant’s past obstructive conduct in civil litigation, in his bankruptcy proceeding, and in this case, as well as his actions following the SEC order and the seizure of funds, demonstrate that the Court does not have reasonable assurance that Defendant will abide by any conditions of pretrial release,” she added.
Some of the people Guo oversaw at Gettr, a Twitter knock-off, had access to its users’ personal information, including phone numbers, IP addresses, and birth dates, according to two former employees. https://t.co/KNRZqwibJw
— Mother Jones (@MotherJones) April 21, 2023
Another set of data points:
Early last year, around 30 engineers at the social media company Gettr received a WhatsApp audio message from Guo Wengui, a wealthy Chinese exile with deep ties to US right-wing politics. Guo, who has since been accused by the Justice Department of running a massive fraud scheme, was pissed. He berated Gettr’s chief technology officer, Joe Wang, complaining that Wang “didn’t deliver” on a January 22 deadline—Chinese New Year—for launching a new video feature.
Wang responded by explaining that he was following a schedule approved by Gettr CEO Jason Miller. Miller’s team was “quite satisfied” with tests on the feature but felt Guo’s schedule was too fast, Wang said. Bad move.
“Do you obey Jason or me?” Guo asked in a follow-up audio message…
Foreign / Repub Affairs Open Thread: Guo Wengui (Again? Still?)Post + Comments (37)