Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who was arrested in New York earlier this month on fraud charges, says he’d be worse off if he fled the US than if he stayed and faced trial.
(Bloomberg) — Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, who was arrested in New York earlier this month on fraud charges, says 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 $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 long targeted him and his family.
“Mr. Kwok likely would face a fate far worse than incarceration in the United States should he attempt to flee,” Guo’s lawyers wrote in a letter Friday to the judge overseeing his case.
Guo, who’s detained in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York, has a bail hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
He and his financial adviser, Kin Ming Je, were charged with conspiracy, wire and securities fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors claim the two conspired to cheat thousands of victims out of more than $1 billion using “a series of complex fraudulent and fictitious businesses and investment opportunities,” according to the indictment. More than $300 million of the proceeds were alleged to have benefited them and their families.
Guo’s lawyers argue that he has no intention of jeopardizing his relationships with his wife and daughter, who live in Connecticut, by abandoning them in the US.
They also assert that he’s not a danger to the community, given that the proposed conditions of his release would include house arrest, GPS monitoring and restrictions on his ability to engage in financial transactions.
Guo’s lawyers cited several other defendants accused of fraud, who have been released on bail, including FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried, who is subject to home detention and allowed to use a cell phone, while posting a $250 million bond.
“None of the above defendants were denied bail even though they face similar charges and share many of the same attributes that the government asserts warrant Mr. Kwok’s detention,” Guo’s lawyers wrote.
The case is US v. Ho Wan Kwok, 23-cr-00118, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
–With assistance from Bob Van Voris.
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