| Guo Wengui
aka Kwok Is Detained on Consent Accused of
Fraud With Silvergate Account Cited
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
March 15 – After a
circus-like civil case
involving Guo Wengui in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York,
which Inner City Press closely
covered, here,
March 15, 2023 saw the
unsealing of a twelve-count
Indictment charging
HO WAN KWOK,
a/k/a “Miles Guo,” a/k/a
“Miles Kwok,” a/k/a “Guo
Wengui,” a/k/a “Brother
Seven,” a/k/a “The Principal,”
and KIN MING JE, a/k/a
“William Je,” with various
wire fraud, securities fraud,
bank fraud, and money
laundering charges. JE,
who is KWOK’s financier, is
also charged with obstruction
of justice.
The
prosecutors said that "KWOK
was arrested this morning in
New York, New York, and will
be presented this
afternoon. JE is
currently at large."
Not mentioned was
another, related arrest on
March 15, of Guo's chief of
staff Yangping Wang, aka
Yvette Wang. Inner City Press,
lone media in the Magistrates
Court, live tweeted her
presentment when the
prosecutors, seemingly hoping
to flip her as a cooperator,
offered release on $5 million
bond, but only with two
co-signers they approve.
The
complaint, signed under seal
on March 10, remained under
seal during the proceeding.
Now it's on Patreon here.
She will remain detained for
now. Vlog here.
Thread
here.
Minutes
later, in a larger courtroom,
Guo / Kwok was presented -
with a Federal Defender for
the day - and detained on
consent. Inner City Press live
tweeted, thread here:
OK - now the
presentment of Guo
Wengui / Ho Wan Kwok, the US
is seeking detention unlike
his chief of staff Yanping
Wang to whom it offered
release on bond. Guo has a
Federal Defender, strangely.
Judge Katharine
H. Parker: You have the right
to be represented by an
attorney. If you cannot afford
one, I will appoint one to
represent you. You have been
arrested on an indictment. I
want to summarize the charges
in a moment. But there is no
financial affidavit
Federal
Defender: His retained counsel
is out of the city, I am
appearing only for today.
Judge Parker: OK,
the indictment charges you Mr.
Kwok with a conspiracy to
commit wire fraud, bank fraud,
securities fraud and money
laundering from 2018 to March
2023
Judge
Parker: According to the
indictment you purchased
yachts and luxury properties.
You made false statements on
social media. You are charged
with a $100 million wire
transfer [Q: the one Yanping
Wang was just charged with?]
Judge Parker
mentions Kwok and Silvergate
Bank - apparently, while his
chief of staff Yanping Wang's
lawyer says Santander and Bank
of America closed her
accounts, Silvergate and US
Bank did not close Kwok's
AUSA:
US seeks detention. And
we understand they consent
Federal Defender: Mr. Klein
his retained lawyer will make
an application later. We
consent to detention. AUSA: We
have made consular
notification to China. [Inner
City Press Q: And what was
their reaction?]
Judge
Parker: Judge Torres has set a
conference for April 4. We are
adjourned.
[Note: chief of
staff Yanping Wang does not
have that court date - her's
is still an unindicted
Magistrates Court case, with a
30 day control date].
The case is US v.
Kwok, et al., 23-cr-118 (Torres
/ Parker)
***
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