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Epoch Times CFO accused of $67 million money laundering scheme
The financial director of the Epoch Times media outlet has been arrested for his alleged involvement in a massive money laundering scheme.
Federal prosecutors allege that Bill Guan, 61, participated in a global conspiracy to launder at least $67 million (£52 million) of illegal money to benefit himself and The Epoch Times.
According to the indictment, Guan led the channel’s “Make Money Online” team, which used cryptocurrency to purchase tens of millions of proceeds of crime.
Mr. Guan has not yet filed an appeal. If convicted, he could spend more than 30 years in prison.
In a statement released late on Monday, The Epoch Times told the BBC that it “intends and will cooperate fully with any investigation dealing with the allegations against Mr. Guan.”
“Although Mr. Guan is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, the company has suspended him until the matter is resolved,” the media outlet said.
It did not respond to specific questions about the Make Money Online team referenced by prosecutors.
Mr Guan could not be contacted by the BBC.
In the 12-page indictment, federal prosecutors detailed the alleged plan, which they say began around 2020.
The plot, prosecutors said, was simple: members of the Make Money Online (MMO) team would purchase the proceeds of crime through discounted cryptocurrency and transfer that proceeds to bank accounts maintained by entities affiliated with the newspaper.
The illegal proceeds would eventually be transferred back to The Epoch Times accounts through “tens of thousands of layered transactions,” including through prepaid debit cards and financial accounts opened using stolen identifying information.
According to the indictment, for years the scheme worked to enrich the Epoch Times, pumping tens of millions of dollars into the newspaper.
Coinciding with the time when Guan proposed the alleged scheme, the vehicle’s internal accounting showed that its annual revenue increased by around 410% – from US$15 million in 2019 to around US$62 million the following year.
When banks asked Guan where the increased money was coming from, he lied, claiming the funds came from “donations,” prosecutors said.
Guan was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud.
Prosecutors noted that these charges are “not related to the media company [the Epoch Times’] news gathering activities.”
Founded in 2000, The Epoch Times began as a small, low-budget newspaper distributed for free in New York.
It was started by Chinese Americans affiliated with a religious group called Falun Gong.
In the years that followed, it reportedly became one of the most powerful conservative news organizations in the US and a home for conspiracy theories, right-wing misinformation, and strong opposition to the Chinese Communist Party.