Chinese businessman Guo Wengui was arrested on Wednesday in New York and charged with 11 counts of fraud and money laundering.
Wengui, an associate of former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon, is accused of orchestrating a $1B fraud scheme.
Guo is accused of using the money raised through his company GTV Media and others to buy various personal items, including a $26M home in New Jersey, a $37M yacht, a $3.5M Ferrari, and two Hasten 2000T mattresses that cost $36,000 each.
- The SEC has also filed a separate civil complaint against Guo and his co-defendant in the criminal case, his financial advisor William Je.
- The SEC accused Guo of misrepresentations in raising hundreds of millions of dollars from investors through a cryptocurrency asset called H-Coin.
- Prosecutors have seized over $650M of alleged fraud proceeds from 21 different bank accounts.
- Guo pleaded not guilty to the charges and postponed his bail application until his lawyers returned from out of town.
