Self-exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui has been convicted by a US court of defrauding his online followers in a billion-dollar scam.
He was found guilty on nine of the 12 criminal counts he faced, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
Guo’s sentencing has been scheduled for 19 November, when he could face decades behind bars. He has been in prison since his arrest in March 2023.
He is a critic of the Chinese Communist party and was an associate of Stephen Bannon, an ex-White House chief strategist under former president Donald Trump.
Guo goes by several aliases, including Miles Guo, Miles Kwok and “Brother Seven”. He was named as Ho Wan Kwok when he was indicted in 2023.
Prosecutors said Guo raised more than $1bn (£770bn) from online followers, who joined him in investment and cryptocurrency schemes between 2018 and 2023.
The money he raised was used to fund Guo’s lavish lifestyle which included a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $1m Lamborghini and a $37m yacht, they said.
“Thousands of Guo’s online followers were victimised so that Guo could live a life of excess,” the US Attorney in Manhattan, Damian Williams, said after the verdict.