The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, Southern District of New York (USAO-SDNY), is charging the chief monetary officer of The Epoch Occasions, Invoice Guan, with one rely of conspiring to commit cash laundering and two counts of financial institution fraud.
In response to the USAO-SDNY, Guan entered right into a transnational conspiracy with others that included the media outlet’s foreign-based “Make Cash On-line” (MMO) staff to launder a minimum of $67 million “from a minimum of in or about 2020, by way of in or about Might 2024.”
“Beneath GUAN’s administration, members of the MMO Staff and others used cryptocurrency to knowingly buy tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in crime proceeds, together with proceeds of fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance coverage advantages, that had been loaded onto tens of hundreds of pay as you go debit playing cards.
The crime proceeds had been typically bought by the scheme contributors, together with members of the MMO Staff and others working with them, utilizing a selected cryptocurrency platform, at discounted charges of roughly 70 to 80 cents per greenback, and in trade for cryptocurrency.”
The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace, Southern District of New York additional says that upon buying the crime proceeds, the MMO Staff and others opened financial institution, cryptocurrency, and pay as you go debit card accounts in addition to different accounts utilizing stolen info. These accounts had been subsequently used to switch the proceeds of crime into financial institution accounts linked to The Epoch Occasions.
“After the crime proceeds reached these financial institution accounts, they had been usually additional laundered by way of different financial institution accounts held by The Epoch Occasions and its associated entities, GUAN’s private financial institution accounts, and thru GUAN’s private cryptocurrency accounts.”
Following the media outlet’s 410% leap in revenues from roughly $15 million to roughly $62 million year-over-year in or across the time of the cash laundering scheme beginning, Guan advised banks that the rise was a results of an uptick in donations.
“Nevertheless, in 2022, GUAN wrote a letter addressed to a congressional workplace falsely stating “donations” represent “an insignificant portion of the general income” of the Media Firm.”
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