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Epoch Times Executive Bill Guan Charged in US with $67 Million Money Laundering in Alleged ‘Sprawling Scheme’
A senior executive of The Times of the Eraa right-wing media company highly critical of Beijing, has been indicted by a US federal grand jury on charges of laundering at least $67 million in stolen money through corporate accounts in a “sprawling transnational scheme” intended to swell the company’s profits. ‘agency.
Chief financial officer Weidong Guan, 61, also known as Bill Guan, was arrested on one count of money laundering and two counts of bank fraud and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on the money laundering charge and 30 years for any bank fraud. load.
Under Guan’s direction, according to the indictment, a “make money online” (MMO) team and others at the company began using cryptocurrencies “in or about 2020” to “knowingly purchase tens of millions of dollars in proceeds of crime” at a discount, and then transfer the assets to accounts controlled by The Epoch Times.
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“Guan and his co-conspirators made numerous false statements in response to numerous complaints and concerns raised by banks, cryptocurrency companies and others regarding [Epoch Times’] suspicious financial activity,” he said. “Guan falsely claimed that the increase in funds reflected ‘profit’ from the work of [the company’s] Ministry of Foreign Affairs which had ‘donated’.”
The indictment, issued by the Southern District of New York, went on to state that after the MMO team began its operations, the Epoch Times’ internal accounts showed a year-over-year increase in revenue of more than 400 percent, to approximately $62 million. of dollars.
The Epoch Times is closely related to Falun Gong, whose followers practice a mix of meditation, slow martial arts movements and breathing exercises, inspired by Buddhist and Taoist philosophy. Falun Gong has been banned in mainland China since local authorities branded it a dangerous cult more than 20 years ago. The publication often runs stories that play well with right-wing groups in the United States, including giving space to climate change deniers and vaccine skeptics, and tends to cover the former U.S. president favorably Donald Trumpthe Republican Party’s presumptive presidential nominee in this year’s general election. He often publishes articles supporting the contested theory that Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19emerged from the Wuhan Institute of Virology and that US officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, tried to cover up the matter. Separately, Fauci appeared on Capitol Hill last Monday, defending himself against those accusations.
Guan “conspired with others to benefit himself, the media company and its affiliates by laundering tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and other proceeds of crime,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said.
“When banks raised concerns about the funds, Guan allegedly repeatedly lied and falsely claimed that the funds came from legitimate donations to the media company,” Williams added.
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The printing plant of the China-critical newspaper Epoch Times was ransacked in Hong Kong
The printing plant of the China-critical newspaper Epoch Times was ransacked in Hong Kong
In a statement sent to several media outlets on Monday, the Epoch Times said it had suspended Guan “until the matter is resolved” and that it “intends and will fully cooperate with any investigation addressing the allegations against Mr. Guan.”
The Falun Gong movement was founded on the mainland in 1992. As its followers grew and began to demand legal recognition and freedom to organize their activities, Beijing labeled the group a “heretical organization” and banned it from the mainland as an “evil cult.” ” in 1999.