CFO of The Epoch Times Arrested for Allegedly Laundering $67 Million in Stolen Funds

The Chief Financial Officer of US media group The Epoch Times, Weidong Guan, also known as ‘Bill’ Guan, has been arrested and charged in the United States with laundering at least $67 million in stolen money. According to U.S. prosecutors, the money significantly increased The Epoch Times’s revenue by over 400% in just one year.

A federal grand jury indicted Guan with one count of money laundering and two counts of bank fraud. Guan has pleaded not guilty to these charges.

Announcing Guan’s arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York stated that the executive “conspired with others to benefit himself, the media company, and its affiliates by laundering tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and other crime proceeds.”

The U.S. Attorney’s Office detailed that Guan participated in a “sprawling transnational scheme” to launder “at least $67 million” to the New York-based media company’s bank accounts and related entities. It was revealed that members of the company’s ‘Make Money Online’ team, managed by Guan, used cryptocurrency to “knowingly purchase tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds,” which included proceeds from fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits. These benefits had been loaded onto tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards.

According to the Attorney’s Office, stolen personal information was then used to open accounts as part of the alleged laundering scheme. The money was further laundered through other bank accounts held by The Epoch Times and Guan’s personal bank and cryptocurrency accounts.

“In or around the same time the money laundering scheme began, the media company’s internal financial accounting reflected an increased annual revenue over the previous year of approximately 410%—from approximately $15 million to approximately $62 million,” prosecutors explained.

When banks questioned Guan about the increase in transactions entering the bank accounts of the media entities, Guan claimed that the increase in funds was due to donations.

No other employees of The Epoch Times were named in the indictment.

If convicted, Guan faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the money laundering charge, while the bank fraud charges carry a maximum sentence of 30 years.

In a statement, The Epoch Times asserted that Guan is “innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” but noted that he has been suspended from the company pending the outcome of the trial. “The Epoch Times has a guiding principle that elevates integrity in its dealings above everything else. The company intends to and will fully cooperate with any investigation dealing with the allegations against Mr. Guan,” the statement read.

The Epoch Times, which was previously a free print newspaper focused on criticizing the Chinese Communist Party, has in recent years become a prominent supporter of Donald Trump and is generally characterized as a far-right publication.

Prosecutors clarified that the charges “do not relate to the Media Company’s newsgathering activities.”

By fLEXI tEAM