In brief
- Conservative worldwide news organisation The Epoch Times’ finance manager was jailed for organising a yearslong plot to launder at least $67 million in criminal proceeds.
- Federal prosecutors say Weidong Guan and others used bitcoin, prepaid debit cards, illegal unemployment insurance benefits, and stolen personal identity information.
- Prosecutors said the money laundering scheme transported tens of millions to media business bank accounts.
Federal prosecutors announced Monday that conservative worldwide news site The Epoch Times’ CFO was detained and accused of overseeing a yearslong plan to launder at least $67 million in criminal proceeds.
Prosecutors claimed that bitcoin, tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, illegal unemployment insurance benefits, and stolen personal information boosted The Epoch Times’ annual earnings.
Weidong “Bill” Guan, 61, faces one conspiracy to launder money and two bank fraud charges in lower Manhattan U.S. District Court.
According to court documents, Guan was detained Sunday morning and pleaded not guilty before a Manhattan federal magistrate judge on Monday afternoon. His $3 million personal recognition bail limits his travel to New York and New Jersey, among other restrictions.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Guan “conspired with others to benefit himself, the media company, and its affiliates by laundering tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent unemployment insurance benefits and other crime proceeds.”
Williams said Guan reportedly lied repeatedly and falsely claimed that the monies came from legitimate donations to the media company when banks questioned them.
The Epoch Times is not named in the indictment. However, Epoch Times’ late 2023 tax return lists Guan as its chief financial officer.
According to prosecutors, the money laundering plan benefited “a multinational media company headquartered in Manhattan, New York.” The Epoch Times is based on West 28th Street in Manhattan.
Prosecutors say Guan and his co-conspirators’ scam increased firm income from “approximately $15 million to approximately $62 million” between 2019 and 2020.
The Epoch Times’ 2019 IRS nonprofit tax forms show $15.5 million in programme revenue. The Epoch Times reported $62.7 million in tax-exempt revenue the next year.
The Epoch Times did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
Indictment: Guan, of Secaucus, New Jersey, managed the Epoch Times’ “Make Money Online team,” which bought “crime proceeds” and transferred them to media outlet bank accounts.
The team allegedly used a crypto platform to buy tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds at 70 to 80 cents per dollar in exchange for bitcoin from 2020 to 2024. Authorities said tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards were loaded with “fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits” from the crime.
After buying criminal proceeds, participants allegedly used stolen personal information to open multiple accounts and move the proceeds to media outlets and affiliated bank accounts.
Prosecutors say Guan’s personal bank and crypto accounts were used to launder them again.
The proceeds were illegal, so Guan and his co-conspirators reportedly lied to banks and other institutions about their sources.
Guan’s attorney was unavailable, but a case record revealed he was appointed a public defender late Monday.
A Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office representative declined to comment on Guan’s late May indictment, unsealed Monday.
Bank fraud offences carry a 30-year maximum punishment, while conspiracy carries a 20-year maximum. The Department of Justice stated in a press statement that Guan’s allegations “do not relate to the Media Company’s newsgathering activities.”
NBC News and other publications have reported on The Epoch Times’ ties to Falun Gong, which has allied with former President Donald Trump in its fight against the Chinese Communist Party.
Source : CNBC News
