NEW YORK, Could 4 (Reuters) – An exiled Chinese language businessman charged by U.S. prosecutors with main a greater than $1 billion fraud on Thursday appealed a choose’s order that he stay in jail pending trial, court docket information confirmed.
Guo Wengui, as soon as a enterprise affiliate of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s adviser Steve Bannon, was arrested in March.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say he promised followers “outsized” funding returns however diverted a lot of their cash to fund lavish existence for himself and his household.
Guo pleaded not responsible to 11 costs together with securities fraud, wire fraud and concealing cash laundering.
U.S. District Choose Analisa Torres final month rejected a proposed $25 million bail bundle, saying prosecutors had proven it was seemingly Guo was a critical flight threat and would pose a threat of financial hurt to the neighborhood if launched.
The 52-year-old defendant, whose different names embody Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Kwok, is a outstanding critic of China’s Communist Occasion. He left China in 2014 throughout an anti-corruption crackdown underneath President Xi Jinping.
Bannon was arrested in a 2020 fraud case whereas aboard Guo’s yacht. Trump later pardoned Bannon.
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Modifying by Daniel Wallis
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