| Miles Guo
Wengui Cited SBF and Madoff Bail But Got
Denied Now Offers Guards on Appeal
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
May 30 – 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.
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
On May 30, Guo's
lawyer argued his appeal of
Judge Torres' denial of bail
before a Second Circuit
three-judge panel. Inner City
Press live tweeted it, thread
here:
Guo's lawyer: If
my client left the US -
to the UAE or anywhere else -
he would abandoned his asylum
claim and his wife and child
here, and his son in the UK.
Judge Eunice Lee:
Didn't the District Court
consider obstructive behavior?
Lawyer: I'm
getting to that.... We
proposed 24/7 surveillance by
private guards.
Judge: At the end
of the day it is impossible to
have a release on bail that
doesn't rely on a defendant's
compliance. Are the guard's
authorized to use force? I
think not
Judge Sarah
Merriam: It's not uncommon we
see resubmission of bail
packages? Guo's lawyer: The
court said it could not
imagine any circumstances.
Judge Jon Newman: Has a trial
date been set? Lawyer: We
asked for Fall; the US wants
spring 2024.
Assistant US
Attorney: The District Judge
looked at Kwok's [Guo's]
behavior in previous cases --
Judge: Did the Court look at
his failure to flee in the
year he knew this was coming?
AUSA: Yes. Page 7 of her
opinion.
AUSA: This
court has been skeptical about
private security offers, &
a 2-tier bail system. [But
what about DOJ agreeing to
bail for Bankman-Fried? It's
two tier, just not only on
income]
AUSA: Private
security might not report to
the judge - they want to get
paid
AUSA: The defense
claims the Judge did not
subject the government to
scrutiny. But she cites Guo's
own statements on his social
media accounts. She took it
all in and her decision was
plausible.
Argument over -
decision will come out in the
future.
The appeals case
is listed as US v. Kwok,
23-6421 (Torres)
More on Substack
here
On May 26, Guo's
lawyer asked for access to "the
Sherry-Netherland apartment,
located at 781 Fifth Avenue,
Apts. 1801, MR 2219, MR 719,
for purposes of visual
inspection and
video/photographic
documentation. Mr. Kwok
resided at the
Sherry-Netherland Apartment
when he was arrested in this
matter, and the Government
executed a search warrant at
this location at the time of
the arrest" - full letter on
Patreon here.
Back on March 31,
Guo put in his written
argument, pointing out the
bail of Sam Bankman-Fried
(with DOJ consent) and Bernie
Madoff. Page two has Holmes of
Theranos, Enron's Skilling,
WorldCom's Ebbers, even the
Wolf of Wall Street, Belfort
of Stratton Oakmont - ironic
in that Pras Michel on trial
in DC is calling Wolf of
Street Street star Leonardo
DiCaprio as a witness. He also
filed a memo about the MDC
jail having illegal cell
phones - and weapons, on
Patreon here.
But on April 20,
Judge Torres denied bail. Full
order on Patreon here.
On May 15, Guo's
lawyer put in a request for
the transcript for his appeal
to the 2d Circuit; the
transcript is due May 25.
Order on Patreon here
The case is US v.
Kwok, et al., 23-cr-118
(Torres)
***
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