Epoch Times CFO Bill Guan is charged in alleged $67 million global money laundering scheme

[The IbanezerScrooge]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/03/money-laundering-epoch-times-cfo-charged-with-alleged-67-million-scheme-.html

The chief financial officer of conservative global news outlet The Epoch Times has been arrested and charged with leading a yearslong scheme to launder at least $67 million in illicit funds, federal prosecutors said Monday.​

​

The scheme — which involved cryptocurrency, tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and stolen personal information — fueled a massive increase in The Epoch Times’ reported annual revenue, prosecutors alleged.​

​

Weidong “Bill” Guan, 61, is charged in U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud.​

 

[durangodawood]

Super shady "news" outlet. Not surprised by criminal affiliations.

 

[The Barbarian]

Not exactly MSM, is it?

In a statement, the news organization, which is linked to China’s Falun Gong spiritual movement, said it would cooperate with the federal probe.

Federal prosecutors said the media company’s revenues jumped approximately 410% when the alleged money laundering began, from approximately $15 million to $62 million. Guan, they said, lied to banks when they asked about the increase in transactions and said there was an increase in legitimate donations.

The Epoch Times has become politically conservative over the years and has embraced both former President Donald Trump and various conspiracy theories.

Epoch Times CFO is arrested and accused of role in $67M multinational money laundering scheme

The chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, a conservative multinational media company, has been indicted in a multi-year scheme to launder tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and other funds.

apnews.com

 

[Zaha Torte]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/03/money-laundering-epoch-times-cfo-charged-with-alleged-67-million-scheme-.html

The chief financial officer of conservative global news outlet The Epoch Times has been arrested and charged with leading a yearslong scheme to launder at least $67 million in illicit funds, federal prosecutors said Monday.​

​

The scheme — which involved cryptocurrency, tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and stolen personal information — fueled a massive increase in The Epoch Times’ reported annual revenue, prosecutors alleged.​

​

Weidong “Bill” Guan, 61, is charged in U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud.​

No surprise that these charges happen during this election year.

 

[The Barbarian]

No surprise that these charges happen during this election year.

I don't think big banks are being politically inclined when they move to protect themselves from money-laundering charges.

Federal prosecutors said the media company’s revenues jumped approximately 410% when the alleged money laundering began, from approximately $15 million to $62 million.

You should probably know that Epoch Times got turned in because they were lying to the banks about where the money was coming from, not because they were supporting Trump and QAnon stories.

 

[Zaha Torte]

I don't think big banks are being politically inclined when they move to protect themselves from money-laundering charges.

Federal prosecutors said the media company’s revenues jumped approximately 410% when the alleged money laundering began, from approximately $15 million to $62 million.

You should probably know that Epoch Times got turned in because they were lying to the banks about where the money was coming from, not because they were supporting Trump and QAnon stories.

Maybe that is true - but this supposed "yearslong scheme" was only uncovered now?

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

Maybe that is true - but this supposed "yearslong scheme" was only uncovered now?

So the criminal justice system should just shut down in election years so as not to give the impression of some kind of partisan bias?

Do you want to provide a list of Zaha approved^TM targets for election years so we can avoid these inane takes when criminals get prosecuted for committing crimes?

 

[durangodawood]

Maybe that is true - but this supposed "yearslong scheme" was only uncovered now?

Criminals, smart ones, often take measures to conceal their crimes.

And its not like we're funding law enforcement nearly enough to catch everything.

 

[Hans Blaster]

No surprise that these charges happen during this election year.

Is the online media source involved an arm of a political party? Is the charged CFO a candidate for office in the next 90 days? If not, then this has zero relevance to the money laundering charges.

 

[Hans Blaster]

No surprise that these charges happen during this election year.

Oooh. I have a few more...

Did you know the DOJ arrested a Congressman (running for reelection) this year? (He's a Democrat from Texas.)

Did you know that a sitting US Senator is on trial in federal court in Manhattan *RIGHT NOW*? (He's a Democrat from New Jersey.)

Did you know that the non-politician son of the President of the United States is on trial *RIGHT NOW* in a Delaware federal court?

Those are three people charged by the US DOJ who are far closer to politics than this money laundering media executive. Two are members of Congress running for reelection and one the son of the incumbent president (who is also running for relection.) And it's all happening "in an election year".

 

[durangodawood]

Oooh. I have a few more...

Did you know the DOJ arrested a Congressman (running for reelection) this year? (He's a Democrat from Texas.)

Did you know that a sitting US Senator is on trial in federal court in Manhattan *RIGHT NOW*? (He's a Democrat from New Jersey.)

Did you know that the non-politician son of the President of the United States is on trial *RIGHT NOW* in a Delaware federal court?

Those are three people charged by the US DOJ who are far closer to politics than this money laundering media executive. Two are members of Congress running for reelection and one the son of the incumbent president (who is also running for relection.) And it's all happening "in an election year".

I gather that reading Epoch Times gets one in a conspiratorial mindset.

 

[Hans Blaster]

I gather that reading Epoch Times gets one in a conspiratorial mindset.

A newspaper published by a cult...

 

[Reasonably Sane]

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/03/money-laundering-epoch-times-cfo-charged-with-alleged-67-million-scheme-.html

The chief financial officer of conservative global news outlet The Epoch Times has been arrested and charged with leading a yearslong scheme to launder at least $67 million in illicit funds, federal prosecutors said Monday.​

​

The scheme — which involved cryptocurrency, tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and stolen personal information — fueled a massive increase in The Epoch Times’ reported annual revenue, prosecutors alleged.​

​

Weidong “Bill” Guan, 61, is charged in U.S. District Court in lower Manhattan with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud.​

I suddenly came up with a theory a few days ago about why so many intelligent people seem to believe the nonsense about the earth being flat. It is this: The press and our leaders, including those within the realm of scientific study, have been caught so often in the last couple of decades, and called out on it on the internet, where everyone can be exposed to the information, that people are losing trust in everything we've been told, even for centuries. We are living in interesting times.

And this also is reflected in our trust of criminal cases. Look at Rittenhouse and Zimmerman. Those never should have been prosecuted. They were high comedy to anyone actually watching the courtroom cases. They were also high comedy to those of us that were able to plug into "real" news before they went to court. i.e. I expected both verdicts, and was shocked that the DA's brought charges at all.

i.e. regarding this case, I take very seriously the concept, "innocent until proven guilty". Bringing charges and prosecuting really means nothing to me. And as we learned in the Trump case, sometimes even a verdict can be high comedy. I suppose I'm exposing how I think the appeals will go. Again, I actually trust my sources. They've earned it.

 

[BCP1928]

I suddenly came up with a theory a few days ago about why so many intelligent people seem to believe the nonsense about the earth being flat. It is this: The press and our leaders, including those within the realm of scientific study, have been caught so often in the last couple of decades, and called out on it on the internet, where everyone can be exposed to the information, that people are losing trust in everything we've been told, even for centuries. We are living in interesting times.

can you give some examples?

 

[Hans Blaster]

I suddenly came up with a theory a few days ago about why so many intelligent people seem to believe the nonsense about the earth being flat. It is this: The press and our leaders, including those within the realm of scientific study, have been caught so often in the last couple of decades, and called out on it on the internet, where everyone can be exposed to the information, that people are losing trust in everything we've been told, even for centuries. We are living in interesting times.

The problem with the increase in flerfers is a stupid (minor) internet fad building upon various psychological impulses: confidence in one's "own" ideas, being "special" because you have different ideas, conspiratorial thinking (the "ball earth cabal"), and advanced cases of Dunning-Krueger syndrome. Some are Bibilical ultra-literalists who latch on to the flat earth verses in the OT and think that Young Round Earth Creationism" doesn't go far enough. We could add the decades of anti-science propaganda from the creationist ministries, the fossil fuel industries and the anti-vaxxers. These things are all well known to those that study the sociology and politics of science denialism.

 

[Zaha Torte]

So the criminal justice system should just shut down in election years so as not to give the impression of some kind of partisan bias?

The hyperbole is strong with this one.

I see that New York has a strong bias against Trump and any organization that supports him.

Did you sing this same tune when Trump asked about Biden's dealings in Ukraine?

Should I be charged for asking questions too?

Do you want to provide a list of Zaha approved^TM targets for election years so we can avoid these inane takes when criminals get prosecuted for committing crimes?

They may be criminals - it's not for us to say considering that whole "presumption of innocence" thing.

Or are they already admitted criminals for supporting Trump?

 

[Zaha Torte]

Oooh. I have a few more...

Did you know the DOJ arrested a Congressman (running for reelection) this year? (He's a Democrat from Texas.)

Did you know that a sitting US Senator is on trial in federal court in Manhattan *RIGHT NOW*? (He's a Democrat from New Jersey.)

Did you know that the non-politician son of the President of the United States is on trial *RIGHT NOW* in a Delaware federal court?

Those are three people charged by the US DOJ who are far closer to politics than this money laundering media executive. Two are members of Congress running for reelection and one the son of the incumbent president (who is also running for relection.) And it's all happening "in an election year".

So, both sides like to run the same play?

How does that invalidate what I have said?

 

[The IbanezerScrooge]

The hyperbole is strong with this one.

I see that New York has a strong bias against Trump and any organization that supports him.

Did you sing this same tune when Trump asked about Biden's dealings in Ukraine?

Should I be charged for asking questions too?

Well you keep asking like the system shouldn't be or is only prosecuting people for the reason that it's an election year. They're getting guilty verdicts, so they are, in fact, criminals who did crime. What are they supposed to do? Pause during an election year? I guess I'm asking what wouldn't cause you to be critical of them moving with these prosecutions, whenever they occur, since they ("The System") seem to know what they're doing because they're getting guilty verdicts? How do they appease Zaha?

They may be criminals - it's not for us to say considering that whole "presumption of innocence" thing.

They seem to think they have enough evidence to prosecute and we should let the system do its thing, but that's what you're criticizing. You seem to not want them to do their thing since it's an election year and this is a right-wing organization.

Or are they already admitted criminals for supporting Trump?

Very many people in Trump's orbit have been convicted and now he's a convicted felon. The likelihood is that most of the other people around him, whether coerced or not, are probably committing crimes on his behalf. But these guys don't appear to be being prosecuted because of anything to do with Convicted Felon Trump, so what's the criticism about being close to an election? Are all right-wing targets off-limits during elections? Even ones where they obviously have enough evidence to prosecute them?

 

[Zaha Torte]

Well you keep asking like the system shouldn't be or is only prosecuting people for the reason that it's an election year.

They seem to be saving them up until the election cycle rolls around.

Very many people in Trump's orbit have been convicted and now he's a convicted felon, so that question has been answered.

I don't believe that it has.

Do you believe that people should be considered to be criminals for supporting Trump?

The likelihood is that most of the other people around him, whether coerced or not, are probably committing crimes on his behalf.

Yikes.

 

[Reasonably Sane]

can you give some examples?

It's mainly my personal observation and living in the world we live in. Look at Russiagate, The nonsense they tried to force us into during the pandemic, etc. And this woman actually touches on it, IIRC, here: