Epoch Times CFO Bill Guan indicted in alleged $67 million global money laundering scheme

The chief financial officer of the conservative media outlet Epoch Times has been arrested and charged with leading a years-long scheme to launder at least $67 million in illicit funds, federal prosecutors announced Monday.

This “sprawling” scheme – which involved cryptocurrencies, tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and stolen personal information – fueled a massive increase in annual revenue reported by The Epoch Times, claimed prosecutors.

Weidong “Bill” Guan, 61, is charged in U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud.

Guan was arrested Sunday morning and pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon before a federal judge in Manhattan, according to a court notice. He was released on a $3 million personal bond and his travel is restricted to parts of New York and New Jersey, among other restrictions.

Guan “conspired with others to benefit himself, the media company and its subsidiaries, by laundering tens of millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and other proceeds of crime,” it said. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

“When banks raised questions about the funds, Guan allegedly repeatedly lied and falsely claimed the funds came from legitimate donations to the media company,” Williams said.

Epoch Times is not mentioned by name in the indictment. But Guan is listed as Epoch Times' chief financial officer in the nonprofit media company's latest tax return, filed in late 2023.

Prosecutors said the money laundering scheme benefited “a multinational media company headquartered in Manhattan, New York.” The Epoch Times headquarters is located on West 28th Street in Manhattan.

Prosecutors say the scheme by Guan and his co-conspirators increased the company's revenue from “approximately $15 million to approximately $62 million” between 2019 and 2020.

According to nonprofit IRS tax filings published by The Epoch Times, in 2019 the company reported program revenue of $15.5 million. The following year, The Epoch Times reported tax-exempt income of $62.7 million.

Epoch Times did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

Guan, a resident of Secaucus, New Jersey, led the Epoch Times' “Make Money Online Team,” which carried out the scheme to purchase “crime proceeds” and transfer them to linked bank accounts to the media outlet, according to his indictment.

From 2020 to 2024, the team allegedly used a cryptocurrency platform to purchase tens of millions of dollars in proceeds of crime at discounted rates, 70 to 80 cents on the dollar, in exchange for cryptocurrency. The proceeds of the crime, which included “fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits,” were loaded onto tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, prosecutors said.

After purchasing the proceeds of crime, the participants allegedly used stolen personal information to open different types of accounts and transfer the proceeds to bank accounts linked to the media outlet and associated entities.

According to prosecutors, they were often re-laundered through other accounts, including Guan's personal bank and crypto accounts.

To hide the illegal nature of the profits, Guan and his co-conspirators allegedly lied to banks and other entities about their sources.

An attorney for Guan could not immediately be reached, but a filing showed Monday evening that Guan had been appointed a public defender.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan declined to provide any additional comment on the indictment against Guan, which was filed in late May and unsealed Monday.

The bank fraud counts each carry a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, while the conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The charges against Guan “do not relate to the news gathering activities of the media company,” the Justice Department noted in a press release.

NBC News and other media outlets have reported the Epoch Times' affiliation with the Chinese religious group Falun Gong, which in recent years has supported former President Donald Trump as an ally in his opposition to the ruling Communist Party in China.