Exiled Chinese billionaire's alleged accomplice pleads guilty in massive fraud conspiracy

Yvette Wang, accused of being an accomplice of exiled and indicted Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, pleaded guilty in New York last week to defrauding many investors out of over $1 billion in "a complex scheme," prosecutors said.

Just a few weeks before her scheduled trial in New York federal court alongside Guo, who faces similar charges, Wang opted to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Federal prosecutors arrested and charged Guo in New York last year, accusing her of orchestrating and leading a massive fraud conspiracy that duped thousands of his online followers out of more than $1 billion from 2018 to March 2023. The government said that Guo promised “outsized financial returns and other benefits” to his followers but that, instead, he used the fraudulently obtained money to support his opulent lifestyle.

“Yvette Wang played a leadership role in a broad and complex scheme to defraud thousands,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

“Through false promises and lies, this scheme collected more than $1 billion from innocent victims located throughout the country and the world," Williams added. "Wang inflicted pain and loss on so many, and she will now be held to account for the harm she and others caused.”

Wang’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Wang’s guilty plea carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. As part of her plea, she agreed to pay $1.4 billion in restitution and forfeit $1.4 billion to the U.S, prosecutors said.

She will be sentenced Sept. 10.

Meanwhile, Guo — who has lived in the U.S. since around 2015 and has amassed a “substantial online following” — has pleaded not guilty to each of the 12 counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

Guo was “charged with lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself and his close relatives a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and even two $36,000 mattresses, and financing a $37 million luxury yacht,” prosecutors said.

The government added that it has seized $634 million in alleged fraud proceeds from 21 bank accounts, as well as assets bought with the proceeds of the alleged fraud, including a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roads.

Guo, who is set to go to trial May 20, has remained in jail since he was arrested last year after U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres and a federal appeals court rejected his $25 million proposed bail package.

Torres said Guo must remain behind bars pending trial because there is “no condition or set of conditions” that would ensure his return to court or the safety of the community, according to the court order at the time.

Guo’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.