Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui gets 30 years in US prison for huge fraud

A federal judge said Guo’s fraud cost more than 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars.A self-exiled billionaire Chinese business tycoon has been sentenced to 30 years in a United States prison for financial fraud that a federal judge said cost more than 1,000 people worldwide hundreds of millions of dollars.Guo Wengui, who fled China a decade ago and reinvented himself in the US as a critic of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was sentenced on Monday in a Manhattan court by Judge Analisa Torres.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3The $3.7bn man: Inside one of US’s biggest Medicare fraudslist 2 of 3Somali intelligence helps US arrest alleged leader of Minnesota fraudlist 3 of 3US Supreme Court backs Trump’s firings; Fed’s Cook reserved as exceptionend of listGuo, once believed to be among China’s wealthiest men, was also ordered to forfeit $889m in restitution.A jury unanimously found Guo guilty of fraud, various securities offences, wire fraud and money laundering in 2024.The FBI arrested him the year before in his luxury Manhattan apartment overlooking Central Park.At Monday’s sentencing, Torres said Guo, also known as Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok, “preyed on those seeking to bring Democracy to China”, taking their money so he could live lavishly.In court, Guo complained of his health and only briefly touched on the criminal case, defending his intentions by saying he had come to the US “to destroy” the CCP.Judge Torres read snippets of letters she received from victims, who described losing their life savings and feeling severely anxious and shamed, as well as having family members turn on them for their poor investment choice.Guo, she said, took no responsibility for his actions, “and instead insists, incredibly, his conduct caused no loss and harmed no one”.Wei Chen, a victim who testified at the trial, told Torres that Guo’s fraud “destroyed my life” and that of her family.