On Wednesday Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire, along with former White House adviser Steve Bannon was arrested by federal authorities Wednesday in a billion-dollar fraud scheme.

Guo Wengui a.k.a. Ho Wan Kwok,  allegedly duped thousands of online followers, he amassed after starting two nonprofits in 2018, out of investments and bought luxurious assets, including a $36,000 mattress, a $26.5 million New Jersey mansion, and a $37 million yacht.

The nonprofits started by him pushed his purported agenda of being critical of the Chinese Communist Party, the Justice Department said. According to the indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, Guo and a co-conspirator, Kin Ming Je, set up a number of business entities, which included a media group, a loan program, and members-only luxury clubs.

He then allegedly siphoned off more than $1 billion given by thousands of his followers.

Guo Wengui’s wife

Guo Wengui’s wife is Yue Qingzhi. She lives in New York, according to Guo. She has not been seen in public. They have 2 children together.

Guo Wengui yacht

‘Lady May’ is a 151-foot aluminum luxurious superyacht, which is the centerpiece of Gua’s financial battle. A New York court earlier this month ordered the exiled businessman to pay $134 million in penalties for moving and keeping the yacht out of reach of US creditors. He was asked to bring the vessel back to US waters.

In 2014, the luxury motor yacht was built by Feadship. It has a beam of 9 m and a draft of 2.2 m. It has an aluminum hull and aluminum superstructure.

Guo Wengui net worth

In February 2022 Guo filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time he revealed that his estimated assets are currently worth between $50,001 and $100,000. His liabilities range between $100 million and $500 million.

Guo Wengui career

He began his business career in Zhengzhou, before moving to Beijing to secure various construction deals during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

He moved to the United States in 2015. Guo, long prominent in real estate development and investment circles, came to fame in 2015 after a lengthy investigative report by Caixin media, controlled by Hu Shuli, was released,

Since the beginning of 2017, Guo is in self-imposed exile in New York City, where he owns an $82 million apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, In November 2018, Guo put the apartment up for sale for $67 million.

Guo is a member of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and Mark’s Club in Mayfair, London.

Guo also started a campaign of accusing Chinese officials of corruption through live monologues on his YouTube and Twitter.

Guo Wengui  family

Guo was born in Shen County, Shandong, China. He is the seventh of eight children.