67 million dollar cryptocurrency money laundering allegation

2024-06-04 01:30:00

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The US Department of Justice accused Bill Guan, the financial director of New York-based media outlet Epoch Times, of laundering $67 million through cryptocurrency.

Guan allegedly ran the Epoch Times’ “Make Money Online” team (MMO), which was accused of buying “tens of millions” of dollars in proceeds of crime using cryptocurrencies at a 70% to 80% discount According to the indictment, these include illegally obtained unemployment insurance benefits to tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards.

Funds were later transferred to bank accounts associated with Epoch Times by other participants who opened various accounts using stolen personal information of MMO members. This alleged scheme continued from 2020 until last month.

The Epoch Times CFO is in trouble

US Attorney Damian Williams,[Guan] He said, “Conspiring with others to launder tens of millions of dollars in crypto from unemployment insurance benefits obtained through fraud and other criminal proceeds for the benefit of himself, his media company, and affiliated entities”.

According to the statement of the Ministry of Justice, during the period when the plan started, the annual income of the media company increased by about 410 percent. Williams claimed that when he questioned the source of the bank funds, Guan lied about the fact that these funds came from legitimate donations to the media company.

The 61-year-old media executive is now charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, and two counts of bank fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment. According to its website, Epoch Times, which was founded in 2000, currently provides news media services in 36 regions and 22 languages. The law firm stated that the charges are unrelated to its news gathering activities.

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