https://www.scmp.com/rss/324322/feed The latest news on Guo Wengui, exiled Chinese billionaire businessman and later political activist, including news on fraud and money laundering allegations. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Kolette Lim Kolette Lim Singapore’s approach to curbing foreign interference and cybercrime is being tested by the sheer speed and borderless nature of online threats, according to analysts who say the city state’s legal powers provide important safeguards but are unlikely to fully keep pace with a rapidly evolving digital landscape. They note that while swift takedown orders and targeted legislation have strengthened Singapore’s defences against misinformation and coordinated online harms, long-term resilience would... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335660/can-singapores-cyber-laws-keep-pace-speed-borderless-online-threats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3335660/can-singapores-cyber-laws-keep-pace-speed-borderless-online-threats?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 09 Dec 2025 02:30:08 +0000 Guo Wengui, an outspoken critic of China’s government and erstwhile business associate of former White House adviser Steve Bannon, was convicted on Tuesday in US federal court on charges of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from online followers. Prosecutors in Manhattan said Guo raised more than US$1 billion by guaranteeing followers on social media that they would not lose money if they joined him in what the indictment against him called “a series of complex fraudulent and fictitious... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3270717/exiled-chinese-businessman-guo-wengui-convicted-us-fraud-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3270717/exiled-chinese-businessman-guo-wengui-convicted-us-fraud-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Jul 2024 19:39:40 +0000 Exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui scammed his followers out of more than US$1 billion after Chinese authorities seized his property, a federal prosecutor said on Friday as Guo’s fraud trial began in New York. Assistant US Attorney Micah Fergenson told jurors that Guo, who was a real estate developer in China and moved to New York, amassed an online following through videos criticising the Chinese government. After authorities in China and Hong Kong seized his assets in response, Guo started... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3264063/chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-stole-us1-billion-fund-luxury-lifestyle-court-told?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3264063/chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-stole-us1-billion-fund-luxury-lifestyle-court-told?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 May 2024 17:17:32 +0000 A wealthy Chinese businessman who left China a decade ago and became a US-based outspoken critic of his homeland’s Communist Party went on trial in New York on Wednesday for what prosecutors say were multiple frauds that cheated hundreds of thousands of people worldwide of over US$1 billion. Guo Wengui, 57, once believed to be among the richest people in China, sat with his lawyers in Manhattan federal court as jury selection began for a trial projected to last seven weeks. He pleaded not guilty... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3263709/chinese-businessman-guo-wengui-goes-trial-us-over-alleged-us1-billion-fraud-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3263709/chinese-businessman-guo-wengui-goes-trial-us-over-alleged-us1-billion-fraud-scheme?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 May 2024 18:51:08 +0000 The chief of staff of a Chinese businessman sought by the government of China pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges on Friday, weeks before her boss goes to trial in New York in a US$1 billion fraud case. Yvette Wang entered the plea in Manhattan federal court three weeks before she was to stand trial with Guo Wengui. Guo has pleaded not guilty to defrauding hundreds of thousands of followers in the US and around the world of over US$1 billion. At a sentencing scheduled for September 10, Wang... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3261408/chinese-businessman-guo-wenguis-chief-staff-pleads-guilty-weeks-us-fraud-trial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3261408/chinese-businessman-guo-wenguis-chief-staff-pleads-guilty-weeks-us-fraud-trial?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 May 2024 17:12:52 +0000 A US judge on Tuesday rejected exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui’s bid to dismiss an indictment accusing him of defrauding thousands of investors out of more than US$1 billion. US District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan said prosecutors sufficiently alleged that Guo engaged in a pattern of racketeering through four fraud schemes, and that proving it was a matter for trial. Lawyers for Guo did not immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours. Guo has pleaded not guilty... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3257651/us-court-orders-exiled-chinese-billionaire-guo-wengui-face-fraud-indictment?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3257651/us-court-orders-exiled-chinese-billionaire-guo-wengui-face-fraud-indictment?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Apr 2024 03:20:12 +0000 A US appeal court in Manhattan on Wednesday said the exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui should remain in jail while he awaits trial over an alleged fraud that federal prosecutors have said exceeds US$1 billion. The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals said it did not have a “definite and firm conviction” that a trial judge erred in rejecting Guo’s proposed US$25 million bail package. Lawyers for Guo did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Guo, a critic of China’s Communist Party and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3224115/no-bail-exiled-chinese-businessman-guo-wengui?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3224115/no-bail-exiled-chinese-businessman-guo-wengui?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Jun 2023 21:12:55 +0000 A jury on Wednesday convicted Grammy Award-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of The Fugees hip hop group on criminal charges that he conspired with a Malaysian financier to orchestrate a series of foreign lobbying campaigns aimed at influencing the US government under two presidents. His conviction in federal court in Washington followed a trial that was filled with political intrigue and featured high-profile witnesses including Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and former US attorney... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3218503/fugees-rapper-pras-michel-convicted-us-over-lobbying-campaigns-malaysias-jho-low?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3218503/fugees-rapper-pras-michel-convicted-us-over-lobbying-campaigns-malaysias-jho-low?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Apr 2023 21:19:53 +0000 Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, the exiled businessman and vocal critic of Beijing with ties to former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, was denied bail after being charged by the US with fraud last month. US District Judge Analisa Torres on Thursday rejected Guo’s bid to remain free pending trial, saying that “no conditions or set of conditions” would ensure his return to court or the safety of the community. Torres said Guo’s proposed bail package – which would have him released on a US$25... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3217797/chinese-billionaire-guo-wengui-denied-bail-us-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3217797/chinese-billionaire-guo-wengui-denied-bail-us-fraud-case?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 20 Apr 2023 20:53:10 +0000 Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel told jurors on Tuesday at his illegal-lobbying trial that the party-boy Malaysian tycoon Jho Low – once a friend and now a fugitive – paid him US$20 million to get a photo with US President Barack Obama in 2012. Michel told a federal jury in Washington that Low hired him to be a “celebrity surrogate” to get the photo. The rapper is accused of funnelling illegal donations from Low into Obama’s campaign and later illegally lobbying President Donald Trump’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3217512/1mdbs-jho-low-paid-us20-million-obama-photo-op-us-rapper-pras-michel-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3217512/1mdbs-jho-low-paid-us20-million-obama-photo-op-us-rapper-pras-michel-says?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 18 Apr 2023 22:00:13 +0000 Former top Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy gave federal jurors in the US an inside account of how he and Grammy-winning rapper Pras Michel reaped payouts from a Malaysian tycoon to lobby President Donald Trump’s administration to help end a federal investigation into the 1MDB scandal. At Michel’s criminal trial in Washington, Broidy testified on Tuesday about how the musician assembled a team in 2017 to get the US Justice Department to drop its civil investigation of Jho Low, who’s accused... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3216026/malaysias-jho-low-paid-rapper-lobby-donald-trump-drop-1mdb-investigation-us-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3216026/malaysias-jho-low-paid-rapper-lobby-donald-trump-drop-1mdb-investigation-us-court-hears?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 05 Apr 2023 01:18:07 +0000 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio told a Washington jury on Monday that Malaysian financier Jho Low revealed his plans to donate up to US$30 million to help US President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign in what prosecutors allege was part of an illegal foreign influence operation. “It was a casual conversation about what party he was in support of,” DiCaprio said, telling jurors that Low said he planned on giving “a significant donation” to the Democratic Party that was “somewhere to the tune of... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3215895/leonardo-dicaprio-says-malaysias-jho-low-planned-donate-obama-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3215895/leonardo-dicaprio-says-malaysias-jho-low-planned-donate-obama-campaign?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Apr 2023 20:40:20 +0000 Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who was arrested in New York earlier this month on fraud charges, said he’d be worse off if he fled the US than if he stayed and faced trial. Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, asked to be released on a US$25 million bond, arguing he’s not a flight risk. He noted that he hadn’t left the US since 2017, when he sought political asylum in the country. In fact, he argued that fleeing would endanger him more as it would expose him to the Chinese Communist Party that has... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3215660/chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-seeks-us25-million-bail-says-hed-be-worse-if-he-fled-new-york?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3215660/chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-seeks-us25-million-bail-says-hed-be-worse-if-he-fled-new-york?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Apr 2023 01:50:39 +0000 A federal prosecutor on Thursday accused Grammy-winning rapper Prakazrel “Pras” Michel of The Fugees hip hop group of illegally taking tens of millions of dollars to lobby the US government on behalf of a Malaysian financier and the Chinese government. The accusations were made at the start of a trial that prosecutor Nicole Lockhart said will link Michel to financier Jho Low, who is suspected of embezzling US$4.5 billion from Malaysia’s 1MDB sovereign wealth fund, and a Chinese government... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3215487/us-accuses-fugees-rapper-pras-michel-illegal-lobbying-1mdb-fugitive-jho-low-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3215487/us-accuses-fugees-rapper-pras-michel-illegal-lobbying-1mdb-fugitive-jho-low-china?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 31 Mar 2023 01:21:20 +0000 Chinese businessman Guo Wengui’s life has been likened to a story from a spy thriller. Besides being a known critic of the Chinese government and associate of Trumpist Republicans, he’s also been accused of stealing billions from his followers to fund his luxury lifestyle. The billionaire has reportedly even been accused of being a Chinese agent, which he denies, despite fleeing his home country years ago after claiming he was accused of fraud and corruption by Chinese authorities. Last week the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3214670/inside-exiled-chinese-billionaire-guo-wenguis-mysterious-life-once-one-chinas-richest-men-business?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/entertainment/article/3214670/inside-exiled-chinese-billionaire-guo-wenguis-mysterious-life-once-one-chinas-richest-men-business?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 24 Mar 2023 03:52:52 +0000 The US arrested exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui on Wednesday, charging him with orchestrating a conspiracy to defraud thousands of online followers out of more than US$1 billion. At his arraignment late Wednesday afternoon before US Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker, Guo pleaded not guilty to the charges. Parker denied Guo bail after prosecutors argued that he had “limited ties to the United States and the resources to flee from this country and from the legal consequences of his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3213664/fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-charged-fraud-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3213664/fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-charged-fraud-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Mar 2023 15:34:09 +0000 The billionaire Chinese fugitive Guo Wengui declared bankruptcy this week, claiming in a court filing that his net worth had dried up to less than US$100,000 while owing hundreds of millions of dollars to dozens of creditors. It came after a state judge last week ordered Guo to pay a fine of US$134 million or face arrest, because he had violated a court order to keep his luxury yacht in American waters as part of a dispute over debts that he owed. The bankruptcy filing is the latest turn in the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3167336/chinese-exile-guo-wengui-files-bankruptcy-after-yacht-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3167336/chinese-exile-guo-wengui-files-bankruptcy-after-yacht-dispute?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 16 Feb 2022 20:49:05 +0000 A US judge found Guo Wengui in contempt and ordered him to pay US$134 million to a creditor, ruling the exiled Chinese businessman moved a yacht out of US waters to shield it from debt collection. Judge Barry Ostrager of New York state court found that Guo “exercised dominion and control” over the yacht, the Lady May, and had arranged for it to leave New York waters despite an earlier court order requiring it to remain in the jurisdiction. The yacht made its way to the Bahamas. The Lady May made... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3166609/chinese-exile-guo-wengui-ordered-pay-us134-million?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3166609/chinese-exile-guo-wengui-ordered-pay-us134-million?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Feb 2022 23:30:24 +0000 A judge in London has ruled that a US$500 million lawsuit by exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui against UBS over a 2015 margin call can proceed in Britain. The Swiss investment bank had sought to dismiss the case on jurisdictional grounds, but High Court Justice Sara Cockerill ruled on Wednesday that the lawsuit can continue. “UBS was a critical part of the deal structure,” Justice Cockerill wrote in the ruling. “The misstatements relied upon were made about UBS London’s policies. The claim... https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3166442/chinese-billionaire-guo-wenguis-us500-million-lawsuit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/banking-finance/article/3166442/chinese-billionaire-guo-wenguis-us500-million-lawsuit?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Feb 2022 14:11:57 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Three companies of exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui have agreed to pay US$539 million in penalties to settle charges over illegal cryptocurrency sales, the top US financial market watchdog said on Monday. GTV Media Group, Saraca Media Group and Voice of Guo Media Inc last year raised funds through the sale of digital assets called G-Coins and G-Dollars, as well as stock, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the agency said the sale was not registered. The... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3148621/media-companies-linked-fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3148621/media-companies-linked-fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Sep 2021 19:56:33 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Tina Nguyen on politico.com on July 1, 2021. On Tuesday, Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire who runs a Chinese-language media network with Trump adviser Steve Bannon, posted a video on his site GNEWS reminding viewers to back up their social media posts on GETTR. “Today I have to post this video on our G-TV to inform everybody that everything is fine, because the GETTR platform is adjusting,” he... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3139535/newest-maga-app-tied-bannon-allied-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3139535/newest-maga-app-tied-bannon-allied-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Jul 2021 03:10:58 +0000 Guo Wengui, a fugitive Chinese tycoon with close ties to Steve Bannon, stepped up his fight to claim US$500 million from UBS Group that he lost after the bank called in a margin loan. Guo, who has lived in exile in New York for more than five years, sued UBS in London, saying the bank pressured him into agreeing to borrow money tied to the purchase of shares in Chinese brokerage Haitong Securities. Guo said UBS forced the sale of the stock amid a market rout and a 45 per cent plunge in Haitong’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3108756/fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-sues-ubs-us500-million-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3108756/fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-sues-ubs-us500-million-over?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Nov 2020 07:52:16 +0000 In the run-up to the US presidential election, Chinese fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui, best known for incendiary accusations against Beijing, has been helping to promote unverified claims linking Democratic candidate Joe Biden to China, it is claimed. The amplification of stories about Biden’s son Hunter and his alleged business ties to China was part of coordinated and sophisticated attempts to interfere with Tuesday’s US election, according to John Pan, a former collaborator with Guo who is based... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3108139/chinese-fugitive-guo-wengui-spread-biden-china-claim-impact-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3108139/chinese-fugitive-guo-wengui-spread-biden-china-claim-impact-us?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Nov 2020 21:00:14 +0000 A former leading fundraiser for US President Donald Trump has been indicted on a charge that he illegally lobbied the US government to drop its probe into the Malaysia 1MDB corruption scandal and to deport an exiled Chinese billionaire. Elliott Broidy was charged in Washington federal court with one count of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent after allegedly agreeing to take millions of dollars to lobby the Trump administration. The indictment, made public on Thursday, said... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3104775/ex-trump-fundraiser-elliott-broidy-charged-lobbying-jho?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3104775/ex-trump-fundraiser-elliott-broidy-charged-lobbying-jho?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Oct 2020 19:40:01 +0000 An American consultant has been charged in an illicit lobbying effort to get the Trump administration to drop an investigation into the multibillion-dollar looting of a Malaysian state investment fund, and to arrange for the return of a Chinese dissident living in the US. Federal prosecutors say Nickie Lum Davis failed to disclose to the federal government that the lobbying effort was done on behalf of a fugitive Malaysian financier who has been charged in the US with conspiring to launder... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3098681/us-consultant-charged-over-covert-lobbying-jho-low-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3098681/us-consultant-charged-over-covert-lobbying-jho-low-over?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Aug 2020 23:31:03 +0000 Hao Runze, the son of China’s all-time leading scorer Hao Haidong, is without a club after leaving Serbian side Radnicki Nis, but the circumstances of his departure remain unclear amid reports of “pressure from Beijing”.  That was the allegation from fugitive billionaire and former-Chinese Communist Party member Guo Wengui in a June 8 YouTube live-stream, which was reported in Taiwanese media on June 9. Hao Haidong had appeared on Guo’s YouTube live-stream on June 4, the anniversary of the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3089041/hao-haidong-questions-go-unanswered-over-son-hao-runze-leaving?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3089041/hao-haidong-questions-go-unanswered-over-son-hao-runze-leaving?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Jun 2020 02:48:51 +0000 Hao Runze, the footballing son of China’s former star striker Hao Haidong, has been sacked by his Serbian club after pressure from Beijing, according to reports. The news comes after Hao senior was deleted from the Chinese internet following his controversial statements against the Chinese Communist Party last Thursday, the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. China’s record scorer and his second wife, former China national team badminton star Ye Zhaoying, were filmed on a... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3088385/hao-haidongs-son-sacked-serbian-club-radnicki-nis-after-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3088385/hao-haidongs-son-sacked-serbian-club-radnicki-nis-after-pressure?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 10 Jun 2020 05:44:26 +0000 Considering that there is no international football being played right now, it is quite a feat that Yang Xu has become China’s record scorer. Flat-track bully Yang has 28 international goals, most of which have come against the minnows of the global game. He counts four against Guam (199th in the world) last year and has seven more in two games against Bhutan (189th in the world) among his record tally. Yang has jumped to the top of the rankings because China’s true top scorer Hao Haidong has... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3087895/hao-haidong-more-famous-ever-after-being-airbrushed-history?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3087895/hao-haidong-more-famous-ever-after-being-airbrushed-history?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jun 2020 04:53:54 +0000 Retired footballer Hao Haidong has openly challenged Communist Party rule in China, in a video posted online on Thursday. The well-known sports figure also issued what he called a “manifesto for the establishment of a Chinese federation” in the clip posted on YouTube, which is blocked in China. It was not immediately clear where and when 50-year-old Hao recorded the video. In a separate clip also circulating online, Hao appears with his wife Ye Zhaoying, a badminton star in the 1990s, saying she... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3087602/retired-footballer-denounces-communist-party-calls-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3087602/retired-footballer-denounces-communist-party-calls-chinese?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Jun 2020 12:22:32 +0000 An iconic Beijing office tower in the shape of a dragon’s head has been sold for a discount during an online auction, as bankers and creditors succeeded on their third attempt to dispose of the asset to recover some of the 3 billion yuan (US$425 million) owed by the fugitive Guo Wengui. Pangu Plaza Tower 5, which houses IBM China’s office next to the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in the Chinese capital, was sold for 5.187 billion yuan during a 24-hour auction on Taobao, the country’s largest... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3023511/iconic-dragons-head-building-beijing-once-owned-fugitive-guo-wengui-sells?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3023511/iconic-dragons-head-building-beijing-once-owned-fugitive-guo-wengui-sells?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Aug 2019 02:24:14 +0000 A high-profile Chinese fugitive – who belongs to US President Donald Trump’s exclusive South Florida club, Mar-a-Lago, and has railed against China’s government – is accused of being a spy for that very regime, according to new documents filed in a federal-court case in New York. Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who also goes by Miles Kwok, fled to the United States four years ago after learning an associate had been arrested on corruption charges. He is now one of China’s most-wanted, accused of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3019840/chinese-fugitive-tycoon-and-member-trumps-mar-lago-also-spy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3019840/chinese-fugitive-tycoon-and-member-trumps-mar-lago-also-spy?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Jul 2019 21:25:58 +0000 An iconic office and hotel building in Beijing formerly controlled by the Chinese fugitive Guo Wengui will go on the auction block on August 19, as his creditors sell his forfeited assets to recoup debt. Pangu Plaza Tower 5, a 39-storey building shaped like a dragon’s head next to the Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium in Beijing, will open for bids for 24 hours from 10am on August 19 on Alibaba’s Taobao e-commerce site. The building, glimpses of which could be seen in Paramount Picture’s 2014... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3019263/creditors-put-fugitive-guo-wenguis-dragon-head-shaped-pangu-plaza-auction?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3019263/creditors-put-fugitive-guo-wenguis-dragon-head-shaped-pangu-plaza-auction?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Jul 2019 04:27:57 +0000 This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Ben Schreckinger on politico.com on June 7, 2019. A billionaire at the centre of US-China tensions is waging a mysterious legal battle against two Washington conservatives over a private espionage deal gone bad. The fight touches on a pair of think tanks, a senator’s widow and the capital’s tight-knit group of China hardliners, adding a new chapter to an international saga that has divided the Trump... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3013650/how-renegade-chinese-billionaire-guo-wengui-became-centre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3013650/how-renegade-chinese-billionaire-guo-wengui-became-centre?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 07 Jun 2019 20:23:15 +0000 French investigators on Thursday denied a report that a Chinese billionaire who fell to his death in the south of France last year committed suicide or was killed, seeking to end speculation about the case. The death of tycoon Wang Jian, the HNA chairman who plunged from a high wall during a holiday in France, was ruled an accident by French judicial authorities after a criminal investigation by police. Exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui, who has donated US$100 million to investigate alleged... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2184564/french-police-deny-report-chinese-billionaire-wang-jian-committed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/2184564/french-police-deny-report-chinese-billionaire-wang-jian-committed?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 31 Jan 2019 16:26:17 +0000 A former vice-mayor of Beijing has been detained as part of an investigation into alleged corruption and amid reports he may have had links to fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui. Chen Gang, who was head of urban development in the Chinese capital for more than a decade, was taken into custody on suspicion of “serious violations” of party discipline and state law, the National Supervisory Commission said on Sunday, making him the first high-profile official of 2019 to be accused of the standard euphemism... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2180978/former-vice-mayor-beijing-detained-corruption-charges-links-guo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2180978/former-vice-mayor-beijing-detained-corruption-charges-links-guo?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 07 Jan 2019 05:45:00 +0000 One of China’s former top spy chiefs has been sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of accepting 109 million yuan (US$15.8 million) in bribes, and crimes relating to insider trading and forced share transfers. After four years in detention, Ma Jian, the former deputy head of China’s Ministry of State Security, was tried on Thursday at Dalian Intermediate Court in northeast China, where he was also fined 50.5 million yuan. The court ordered the confiscation of all of Ma’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2179676/one-chinas-former-top-spy-chiefs-gets-life-sentence-taking-us158?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2179676/one-chinas-former-top-spy-chiefs-gets-life-sentence-taking-us158?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Dec 2018 09:15:00 +0000 America is still the world’s policeman. At least that must be how it looks to Patrick Ho Chi-ping and Sabrina Meng Wanzhou. But US justice can be highly selective – just ask fugitive mainland billionaire Guo Wengui. A common thread in all three cases? It’s America’s multiple fronts against China. Ho, a former Hong Kong home affairs secretary, has been convicted in New York on seven of eight counts of bribery and money laundering over oil rights for CEFC China Energy in Chad and Uganda, involving... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2176720/long-and-political-arm-us-law?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/hong-kong/article/2176720/long-and-political-arm-us-law?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 06 Dec 2018 09:15:45 +0000 The much-discussed shock death earlier this year of Wang Jian, the former chairman of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, was not an accident, according to a fugitive Chinese tycoon known for making allegations about corruption in China. Self-made billionaire Guo Wengui, who fled to the United States in 2014, made the claim at a press conference on Tuesday in New York. He was joined at the event by Steve Bannon, US President Donald Trump’s former chief strategist. Wang, 57, died on July 3 during a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2174235/guo-wengui-and-steve-bannon-join-forces-imply-beijing-involvement-wang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/2174235/guo-wengui-and-steve-bannon-join-forces-imply-beijing-involvement-wang?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Nov 2018 23:13:59 +0000 Another HK$8.7 billion (US$1.1 billion) of assets of fugitive mainland China tycoon Guo Wengui has been frozen by a Hong Kong court, local media reported on Tuesday, citing court documents. The report by online news outlet HK01 came as Guo, also known as Miles Kwok, was to hold a press conference in New York on Tuesday, with an introduction by former US presidential adviser Steve Bannon. A restraint order issued on October 23 includes prohibition of sales of 510 million shares – or 14.98 per... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2174204/fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-has-us11-billion-assets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2174204/fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wengui-has-us11-billion-assets?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 20 Nov 2018 14:33:52 +0000 Hong Kong police are investigating the exiled Chinese fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui for an alleged conspiracy in which he and his accomplices, including his son and daughter, laundered more than HK$32 billion (US$4.1 billion) through various companies set up in the city, a court document has revealed. Details of the investigation were made known in a judicial challenge by a company owned by Guo Mei, the property tycoon’s daughter, filed at the High Court on Tuesday, seeking to unfreeze bank... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2159724/hong-kong-police-investigating-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-law-and-crime/article/2159724/hong-kong-police-investigating-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Aug 2018 15:36:04 +0000 Chinese police have accused fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui of enlisting two men, including a Chinese Canadian, to forge more than 30 government and Communist Party documents on diplomacy and espionage to bolster his asylum application in the United States. The two suspected accomplices were brothers and detained separately in February, with one brother picked up in Guangdong province and the other in Hunan, Chongqing police said on Monday.  Some of the documents were made public when Guo presented... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2142994/china-accuses-fugitive-tycoon-guo-wengui-commissioning?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2142994/china-accuses-fugitive-tycoon-guo-wengui-commissioning?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Apr 2018 14:15:00 +0000 Voice of America, a US government-funded broadcaster, has sacked three suspended staff members over their involvement in a live streaming interview with self-exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui half a year ago, according to the International Federation of Journalists. The IFJ, a global federation of journalistic trade unions, has called on the international news source to explain the terminations. Washington-based journalists Sasha Gong Xiaoxia and Dong Fang interviewed Beijing-wanted billionaire... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2119934/voice-america-fires-three-suspended-staffers-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2119934/voice-america-fires-three-suspended-staffers-over?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Nov 2017 20:11:16 +0000 A former business partner turned foe of Chinese fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui has made another public appeal to the United States to repatriate him to China, a week before US President Donald Trump is due to visit Beijing. Qu Long – who was released from prison in September after a high court overturned his 15-year sentence for embezzlement – said on Wednesday that he would soon file a criminal lawsuit against Guo. He claimed his “former good friend and partner” had used his connections with... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2118022/former-business-partner-appeals-us-repatriate-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2118022/former-business-partner-appeals-us-repatriate-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 01 Nov 2017 13:58:13 +0000 Chinese fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui on Tuesday posted photographs on Twitter of himself meeting former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon twice in less than a week. In the post, the billionaire businessman, who is wanted in China on corruption charges, said he first met Bannon for lunch in Washington on Thursday after attending an event at the National Press Club. The second meeting came on Tuesday, when Bannon and his team visited Guo’s home in New York for a 3½-hour dinner. The post was... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2114915/chinese-fugitive-guo-wengui-tweets-images-two-meetings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2114915/chinese-fugitive-guo-wengui-tweets-images-two-meetings?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Oct 2017 09:00:30 +0000 China on Saturday denied it was involved in a cyberattack against a Washington think tank that was to host an event with fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui, as well as the US law firm helping him with his asylum application. The Ministry of Public Security also said in a press release that China had provided evidence to the US government that documents presented by Guo to support some of his allegations against China were forged. It said it would make a formal request to Washington to investigate the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2114376/china-not-involved-cyberattacks-washington-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2114376/china-not-involved-cyberattacks-washington-think-tank?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Oct 2017 12:43:18 +0000 An Australian-Chinese man has appeared in a YouTube video claiming ownership of one and links to the second of two properties that fugitive Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui said earlier belonged to a Chinese official. The man from New South Wales used his passport and driver’s licence to identify himself as Sun Lijun – a name he shares with the official from China’s Ministry of Public Security, whom Guo accuses of being corrupt. He then presented legal documents to show that he owned one of the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2113868/australian-man-claims-properties-chinese-fugitive-guo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2113868/australian-man-claims-properties-chinese-fugitive-guo?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 03 Oct 2017 12:30:45 +0000 Facebook has blocked two pages in the name of Guo Wengui, the fugitive Chinese tycoon who has been making corruption accusations against senior officials in recent months. The social media network said it had blocked a profile under Guo’s name and taken down another page associated with him, adding that both pages had included someone else’s personal identifiable information. Facebook acted after receiving a complaint, according to a spokeswoman for the social network. Guo appeared to confirm... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2113651/facebook-blocks-fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wenguis?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2113651/facebook-blocks-fugitive-chinese-tycoon-guo-wenguis?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 02 Oct 2017 05:15:15 +0000 With the 86th Interpol General Assembly set to open in Beijing on Tuesday, state media reported on Monday that China was involved in about 3,000 investigations currently being handled through the global police cooperation agency. China’s public security bureaus were working with police teams around the world, the official Legal Daily reported, on cases that involve both the search for Chinese fugitives living overseas and foreign criminals with links to China. Also on Monday, Xinhua quoted the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2112773/china-involved-3000-interpol-investigations-state-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2112773/china-involved-3000-interpol-investigations-state-media?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Sep 2017 11:59:17 +0000 A New York judge dismissed a case brought against China’s fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui in the US state by a hedge fund linked to Hong Kong’s Pacific Alliance Investment Management Limited. The case filed on behalf of Cayman Islands-based Pacific Alliance Asia Opportunity Fund LP, a unit of Pacific Alliance Investment, was thrown out on the grounds that New York is the wrong jurisdiction to adjudicate the matter. Pacific Alliance Asia was trying to lay claim to a US$78 million penthouse in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2112101/us-judge-dismisses-claim-sparked-race-claim-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2112101/us-judge-dismisses-claim-sparked-race-claim-fugitive?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 20 Sep 2017 21:45:45 +0000 China’s highest profile fugitive, exiled billionaire Guo Wengui, is under attack from a former business partner who claims Guo got him framed for crimes he says he did not commit. After having a conviction for embezzling 855 million yuan (US$130.27 million) from a company owned by Guo quashed, Qu Long said he was out for revenge. “When he returns I will sue him in China,” Qu said of Guo, two days after being released from jail where he served six years of a 15-year sentence. “If he can’t return,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2111854/fugitive-tycoon-guo-wengui-assailed-businessman-who?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2111854/fugitive-tycoon-guo-wengui-assailed-businessman-who?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Sep 2017 07:45:15 +0000