The Epoch Times, a newspaper known for its right-wing and anti-communist content, has been embroiled in a financial scandal. The newspaper’s chief financial officer, Bill Guan, has been charged by federal prosecutors in New York with bank fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to the indictment, Guan allegedly moved at least $67 million in illegally obtained funds to bank accounts associated with the Epoch Times.
The funds were allegedly obtained through the “Make Money Online” team, which used cryptocurrency to purchase tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds. The team would then trade these funds for cryptocurrency at a lower value and transfer them into bank accounts associated with the Epoch Times and Guan’s personal accounts.
The indictment claims that the Make Money Online team purchased prepaid debit cards loaded with fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and traded them for cryptocurrency. The funds were then allegedly transferred into bank accounts associated with the Epoch Times and Guan’s personal accounts. The Epoch Times’ annual revenue reportedly increased by 410 percent during the period when the alleged money-laundering scheme was taking place.
Guan claimed that the increase in revenue came from donations, but prosecutors note that this contradicts a statement he made to a congressional office in 2022, where he stated that donations were an insignificant portion of the overall revenue. Guan has entered a not guilty plea to the charges. The prosecution emphasizes that the charges do not relate to the Epoch Times’ newsgathering activities.
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