Guo Wengui (who also goes by Miles Guo or Ho Wan Kwok) was once one of the wealthiest real estate developers in China. When he fled to the U.S. in 2014 ahead of a sweeping corruption crackdown by Beijing, he didn’t just hide out. He actively weaponized social media, casting himself as a staunch opponent of the Chinese government and the ultimate whistleblower exposing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) corruption.
For thousands of members of the Chinese diaspora, he wasn’t just an influencer—he was a hero.
Between 2018 and 2023, Guo capitalized on that trust. He urged his massive online following to put their money into various projects he controlled, including a media company called GTV Media Group, a cryptocurrency platform called the Himalaya Exchange, and an exclusive membership club with a staggering $10,000 buy-in. He repeatedly promised his followers in live streams that if they ever lost money, he would personally pay them back.
It was a lie. Prosecutors proved that Guo raised over $1 billion from thousands of everyday people—not to fund a revolution, but to fund his own staggering opulence.
While ordinary families took out second mortgages or emptied their life savings, Guo was living like royalty. Federal evidence showed the stolen money went directly into buying:
A $37 million luxury yacht
A custom $1 million Lamborghini, plus Ferraris and a Bugatti
A massive, 50,000-square-foot mansion in New Jersey
A lavish penthouse apartment in Manhattan
While the flashy luxury cars and yachts catch headlines, the most heartbreaking part of the story unfolded inside Judge Analisa Torres’s courtroom.
The judge read aloud from letters submitted by victims who described losing everything.
Families were completely torn apart, shoved deep into debt, left with massive anxiety and shame. One victim, Wei Chen, testified at the trial, looking back at what the fraud cost her family:
“It took our peace of mind, it took our hope, it took life from us—the best years of our lives.” She said.
