(NewsWorthy.news) – The chief financial officer of an international conservative media outlet has been charged for allegedly orchestrating a major money laundering scheme.
On Sunday June 2, Weidong Guan—CFO for The Epoch Times—was arrested for his suspected involvement in gathering illicit funds to the tune of $67 million over the course of several years. The 61-year-old defendant pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges to commit money laundering as well as bank fraud on June 3, in a federal court in New York.
Guan, who was not working alone, obtained the money through various means, including prepaid debit cards and cryptocurrency. He is also believed to have illegally gathered personal identifying details and dishonestly obtained unemployment benefits. The rewards of the scheme landed in multiple bank accounts connected to The Epoch Times, prosecutors say.
The “sprawling transnational scheme” lodged against Guan and his associates was allegedly conducted through the “Make Money Online” project of the media company. According to the indictment, which was unsealed on Monday June 3, the suspected money launderers “knowingly” bought tens of millions of “crime proceeds.”
Personal information was stolen from individuals and used to access financial accounts, then laundered more as the money was transferred to accounts owned by both The Epoch Times and Guan personally, including his cryptocurrency accounts.
The news outlet was not specifically named in the recently released indictment, which referred to the business in question as a “multinational media company.” However, The Epoch Times issued a statement sharing its intention to “fully cooperate” with the federal investigation and legal proceedings lodged against it.
A written statement from the company emphasized its “guiding principle” of integrity that rises “above everything else.” It also stated that, while Guan is “innocent until proven guilty” under the law, it has “suspended him” until resolution of “this matter” is complete. Federal prosecutors have shared that the money laundering scheme was not connected to the sourcing and news writing of the outlet.
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