By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, April 20 (Reuters) - An exiled Chinese
businessman charged by U.S. prosecutors with leading a more than
$1 billion fraud will remain in jail after a federal judge in
Manhattan on Thursday rejected a proposed $25 million bail
package.
U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres said prosecutors had
shown it more likely than not that Guo Wengui was a serious
flight risk, and shown by clear and convincing evidence that he
would pose a risk of economic harm to the community if released.
Torres also said Guo's "obstructive behavior" in the
criminal case--including a false claim he had just $10,000 of
assets--and in civil and bankruptcy proceedings left her with no
"reasonable assurance" he would comply with any bail conditions.
Guo had also proposed 24-hour guard, and being subjected to
detention with GPS monitoring at his wife's Connecticut home.
The 52-year-old defendant, whose other names include Ho Wan
Kwok and Miles Kwok, is a prominent critic of China's Communist
Party.
He had also been a business associate of former Donald Trump
adviser Steve Bannon, who was arrested in a 2020 fraud case
while aboard Guo's yacht. The former U.S. president later
pardoned Bannon.
In seeking bail, Guo's lawyer Stephen Cook said Guo would
remain in the United States if released on bond "because the
risk to his life is simply too great for him to leave."
Cook did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
U.S. prosecutors charged Guo last month with defrauding
thousands of followers since 2018 by promising "outsized"
investment returns, and diverting much of their money to fund
lavish lifestyles for himself and his family.
Authorities said Guo's purchases included a $37 million
yacht, a 50,000 square-foot mansion and two $36,000 mattresses,
and that they have seized $634 million of his alleged fraud
proceeds from 21 bank accounts.
The defendant has pleaded not guilty to 11 charges including
securities fraud, wire fraud and concealing money laundering.
Guo left China in 2014 during an anti-corruption crackdown
under President Xi Jinping.
Officials there have accused Guo of crimes including bribery
and money laundering. Guo has denied wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Daniel
Wallis)
Messaging: jon.stempel.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))
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