A top executive for The Epoch Times, a conservative media company whose billboards have popped up across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, is facing charges in what federal prosecutors in New York called a “sprawling, transnational scheme” to launder at least $67 million of stolen money through company bank accounts.
A federal grand jury handed up an indictment of Weidong Guan, also known as Bill Guan, on one count of money laundering and two counts of bank fraud on May 23, court records show. Guan, 61, was arrested Monday, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Ariel Werner, a federal public defender representing Guan, declined to comment on the charges in an emailed statement Wednesday.
Between 2020 and 2024, Guan allegedly conspired to benefit himself and the New York-based company when he sought to launder funds he fraudulently obtained through unemployment insurance benefits and “other crime proceeds,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the release. He allegedly lied to financial institutions about the source of the money, saying the funds were donations to the media company.
Williams said in the release that the charges against Guan represented the government’s “commitment to vigorously enforcing the laws against those who facilitate fraud through money laundering and to protecting the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”
The Epoch Times was founded in 2000. Since 2016 and 2017, the outlet has embraced former President Donald Trumpand his allies. According to a New York Times investigation, the outlet has developed outsized influence by peddling conspiracy theories and downplaying its connection to Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement.
As part of its expansion in the U.S., The Epoch Times has placed billboards across the country. Billboards in D-FW depict an unidentified man beside a URL to the outlet’s website and the tagline: “#1 Trusted News.” Their simplicity and abundance have sparked confusion among some residents.
Reddit users discussing the billboards in Dallas and Fort Worth-focused message boards debated the origins and motives of The Epoch Times. One user asked where others had seen the billboards and received more than 20 responses, many listing roadside addresses where the billboards were posted.
“I know we’ve all seen ‘em; they’ve been popping up everywhere,” a Reddit user posted to the Dallas subreddit earlier this year. “There’s one right outside my apartment window.”
Source Link: https://www.dallasnews.com/news/courts/2024/06/05/cfo-of-epoch-times-conservative-outlet-with-slew-of-billboards-in-dfw-accused-of-fraud/
