Epoch Times CFO indicted for alleged $67 million crypto money laundering scheme
Quick Take
- Epoch Times CFO Bill Guan allegedly managed a team that laundered $67 million in fraudulent funds.
- Guan allegedly managed a team named “Make Money Online,” which is accused of purchasing crime proceeds with cryptocurrencies to benefit the media company.
The U.S. Department of Justice indicted Bill Guan, the chief financial officer of New York-based media publication Epoch Times, for allegedly participating in a $67 million money laundering scheme. Guan was arrested on Sunday.
Guan allegedly managed Epoch Times’ “Make Money Online” team (MMO), which is accused of using cryptocurrency to buy “tens of millions” of dollars in crime proceeds at a discount of 70% to 80%. These included illegally obtained unemployment insurance benefits loaded onto tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, according to the indictment.
The funds were then transferred to bank accounts associated with Epoch Times by MMO members and other participants who opened various accounts using stolen personal information. This alleged scheme ran on from around 2020 up until last month.
“[Guan] conspired with others to benefit himself, the media company, and its affiliates by laundering tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and other crime proceeds,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
Around the time the scheme had begun, the media company’s annual revenue surged around 410%, the DOJ statement said. When banks questioned the source of funds, Guan lied that they were from legitimate donations to the media company, Williams alleged.
The 61-year-old media executive is now charged with one count of conspiring to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, and two counts of bank fraud, each of which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
Epoch Times, founded in 2000, currently offers news media services in 22 languages across 36 regions, according to its website. The attorney’s office stated that the charges are unrelated to the publication's newsgathering activities.
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