Epoch Times CFO Charged With $67M Fraud Scheme Involving Crypto Platform

As a long-term crypto investor and follower of the industry news, I was shocked and disappointed to learn about the alleged money laundering scheme involving Epoch Times CFO Bill Guan. The details of the case are alarming, and it’s disheartening to see someone in such a position misusing the power and trust bestowed upon them.

Early this Tuesday, I was taken aback to learn that Bill Guan, the CFO of The Epoch Times, has been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). The allegations against him are quite serious – the DoJ claims he was part of a crypto money laundering scheme involving $67 million.

The conservative media outlet, Epoch, is recognized for its critical stance towards the Chinese government.

Guan is under investigation for leading a money-making operation for Epoch’s “Make Money Online” team based abroad from approximately 2020 to May 2024. These allegations are unrelated to the company’s reporting and news-gathering tasks.

“Under Guan’s leadership, team members and others intentionally bought over ten million dollars worth of criminal proceeds, which included funds from fraudulently acquired unemployment insurance benefits, using cryptocurrency and pre-paid debit cards that held those funds,” the DoJ stated.

The earnings were reportedly processed through a specific cryptocurrency exchange, where they were converted into an unnamed cryptocurrency at approximately 70-80% of their original value. Members of the team allegedly utilized stolen identification data to establish accounts and channeled the gains into personal accounts.

As an analyst, I would rephrase that sentence as follows: I discovered that these funds were transferred to additional bank accounts controlled by the media company and personally owned by Guan. Furthermore, some of these funds were also moved through his cryptocurrency accounts.

According to the Department of Justice’s indictment, Guan is accused of plotting to carry out money laundering and bank fraud. The potential penalty for money laundering is a prison term of up to 20 years, while each bank fraud charge could lead to incarceration for a maximum term of 30 years.

Clues suggesting potential misconduct surfaced when authorities scrutinized the company’s remarkable 410% growth in revenue, taking it from $15 million to $62 million in a short span. Initially, Guan explained this financial surge as being due to “generous donations.” However, this explanation raised eyebrows among investigators.