The US Department of Justice announced the arrest of Ho Wan Kwok, also known as Miles Guo and Guo Wengui, for defrauding his online followers of more than $1 billion.
The exiled businessman, wanted by the Chinese government and who had ties to Former Donald Trump administration adviser Steve Bannonwas to make his first court appearance later.
“Kwok is accused of lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself and his close relatives a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
As part of the investigation into Kwok, who fled to the United States in 2015, the Justice Department seized about $634 million, from 21 different bank accounts, and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster, Williams said.
Kwok’s alleged financier, Kin Ming Je, is also charged with obstruction of justice. Je, a dual citizen of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, remains a fugitive.
Kwok and Bannon are longtime partners. Bannon was arrested on a Kwok-owned yacht off the Connecticut coast in 2020. He was accused of stealing money from a fundraising campaign for a project known as “We Built the Wall.”
[Con la colaboración de Masood Farivar, de la VOA]
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