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By Micah McCartney
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Beijing has responded to the sentencing of Guo Wengui, a Chinese tycoon, self-styled dissident and close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump's strategist Steve Bannon.
Guo, 57, was sentenced to 30 years in prison by a federal judge in Manhattan on Monday, nearly two years after a jury convicted him on nine counts, including bank fraud and money laundering, in a scheme prosecutors said defrauded more than 1,000 victims of over $1 billion.
"Guo Wengui is a fugitive wanted under an Interpol Red Notice issued at the request of the Chinese government," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters during a regular press briefing Tuesday.
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Newsweek reached out by email to Guo's attorney, and a representative for Steve Bannon with requests for comment.
Who Is Guo Wengui?
Guo, who goes by several names including Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo, was among China's wealthiest businessmen prior to fleeing China in 2014, having amassed an estimated $2.6 billion through property development during the construction boom leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The Shandong native entered self-imposed exile after authorities targeted his associate, former senior intelligence official Ma Jian, as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. He arrived in the United States in 2015 and applied for political asylum in 2017, though his request was never granted.
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That same year, Beijing secured an Interpol Red Notice seeking his arrest and extradition on allegations including kidnapping, fraud, money laundering, and bribery linked to his former business empire, and later also added a rape allegation.
Guo has consistently denied the accusations, saying they were politically motivated retaliation for exposing corruption within the Chinese Communist Party.
Once stateside, Guo quickly positioned himself as one of Beijing's most visible critics.
He forged a close partnership with Bannon, chief strategist to Trump early in his first term and an architect of the MAGA ("Make American Great Again") movement.
Guo helped Bannon launch anti-Chinese Communist Party ventures including GTV Media and the self-proclaimed New Federal State of China. The pair became known for their "Take Down the CCP" campaign, which called for the party's overthrow, and Guo became a member of Trump's Mar-a-Lago club.
Before joining the Trump administration, current White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt wrote several opinion pieces praising Guo in conservative outlets. The articles had been prepared and paid for by Guo associates without disclosure, according to reporting by Mother Jones and others.
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Guo became mired in legal troubles in 2021, when companies linked to him agreed to a $539 million U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission settlement over unregistered securities offerings.
Investors subsequently filed multiple fraud lawsuits, and Guo sought personal bankruptcy protection in 2022 while facing hundreds of millions of dollars in claims.
Sentencing
Guo raised more than $1 billion through investment schemes, cryptocurrency ventures and membership programs marketed largely to followers of his anti-Communist Party movement and used these funds to support an extravagant lifestyle that included luxury homes, yachts and high-end cars, prosecutors said.
The jury convicted him last year on nine of 12 criminal counts.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Tor scolded Guo during his sentencing, saying he had "preyed on those seeking to bring democracy to China," exploiting supporters' hopes for political change to enrich himself. She also ordered him to forfeit nearly $889 million.
Guo maintains his innocence, and his defense team has confirmed he intends to appeal.
"We believe the sentence is excessive and the court failed to take into account the thousands of investors and customers who maintain that they were not defrauded by Miles Guo**,"** Guo attorney Melinda Sarafa told Newsweek.
Some supporters have called on Trump to pardon Guo.
"The White House Counsel's Office has received no outreach from him, and there is no action being taken related to him at this time," a White House official told Newsweek.
"President Trump is the ultimate decision maker on all clemency related actions."
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