The chief financial officer of news outlet Epoch Times has been arrested and charged for his alleged involvement in a $67 million money laundering scheme involving cryptocurrency.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York, Bill Guan has been charged with conspiring to commit money laundering, and two counts of bank fraud, for allegedly participating in a “transnational scheme” to launder $67 million of illegally obtained funds.
Guan is accused of orchestrating a plot in which the Epoch Times’ “Make Money Online” team used millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to purchase illicit funds, including “the proceeds of fraudulently obtained insurance benefits,” that had been loaded onto prepaid debit cards.
Per the indictment, the MMO Team purchased these crime proceeds at a discount on an unnamed cryptocurrency exchange, moving the proceeds to bank accounts held by Epoch Times-affiliated entities.
Chief Financial Officer of multinational media company charged with participating in scheme to launder at least $67 million in fraud proceedshttps://t.co/lAF3UeihTs
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) June 3, 2024
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) claims that those proceeds were then laundered through both Guan’s personal bank and cryptocurrency accounts, and Epoch Times accounts—to the point where the media firm’s internal accounting showed a 410% year-on-year increase in annual revenue.
Approximately $5.7 million in funds was allegedly transferred to accounts on a second unnamed cryptocurrency platform, with a further $10.9 million sent to a third (again unnamed) crypto exchange.
According to the indictment, cryptocurrency companies were among those who raised concerns about the “suspicious financial activity,” with Guan claiming that the funds variously came from customer subscriptions and “donations” to the company.
The indictment noted that the charges “do not relate to the Media Company’s newsgathering activities,” and that “the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.” Guan faces charges that could put him in jail for a maximum of 80 years, were the sentences to run consecutively.
Founded in 2000, the Epoch Times is an international media company affiliated with the Falun Gong religious group, which has grown to become a darling of the American far right. The news organization has faced accusations of peddling misinformation and promoting conspiracy theories, which its representatives have dismissed as “smears.”
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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Source: https://decrypt.co/233703/epoch-times-cfo-charged-crypto-money-laundering
