Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui seeks US$25 million bail, says he’d be worse off if he fled New York
- The billionaire argued that absconding would endanger him more as it would expose him to Beijing that has long targeted him and his family
- Guo is accused of cheating thousands of victims out of more than US$1 billion using ‘a series of complex fraudulent investment opportunities’
Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, asked to be released on a US$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 on Friday to the judge overseeing his case.
Guo, who’s detained in the Metropolitan Detention Centre 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.
Chinese exile Guo charged with defrauding investors out of over US$1 billion
Prosecutors claim the two conspired to cheat thousands of victims out of more than US$1 billion using “a series of complex fraudulent and fictitious businesses and investment opportunities,” according to the indictment. More than US$300 million of the proceeds were alleged to have benefited them and their families.
Guo’s lawyers argue that he has no intention of jeopardising 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.
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Exiled Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui arrested in the US over fraud charges worth US$1 billion
“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.
