Who is Guo Wengui, Steve Bannon pal arrested in US for fraud? Know about his wife, net worth, other details

Chinese tycoon Guo Wengui was arrested on Wednesday by New York Police over a billion-dollar fraud. He is also wanted in Beijing. Wengui, along with one of his business partners Je Kin Ming, is accused of money laundering, bank fraud and security fraud. As per media reports, he was handcuffed and interrogated for over an hour. Both Wengui and his partner have been accused of raising $1 billion from thousands of online followers who thought they were funding media businesses and an exclusive membership club. Now the real question is what happens next? Here's everything you need to know about the tycoon. Scroll below.

Who is Guo Wengui?

Guo fled China in 2014 and settled in the United States following allegations of corruption. Since then, he has been in New York where he became a vocal critic of the Chinese regime, especially on social media, where he claimed that many Chinese living in the US are actually secret agents of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

He also had an alliance with Steve Bannon who was one of Trump’s aides and vocal advocates for his 2016 false claims of elections.

Guo, along with Bannon and others, developed ‘Gettr,’ a right-wing alternative to Twitter. The app was developed out of a Chinese-language social media network tied to Guo called ‘Getome.’

Family and net worth:

Guo was born in Shanghai, China. He is the seventh child of eight children.

He married Yue Qingzhi in 1985.

According to Freshers live, Guo has a net worth of $1.1 billion.

Accusations Guo faces:

The Chinese businessman is accused to have participated in an elaborate effort to defraud his online supporters against the Chinese government for over $1 billion.

Among his alleged fraudulent schemes was soliciting $262 million in investments in a cryptocurrency ecosystem called the “Himalaya Exchange.”

He was also accused of soliciting money in a private club membership programme called G|CLUBS, where he attracted some $250 million in investments.

What happens next?

Guo currently is in federal custody and faces up to 20 years in jail if found guilty. He pleaded not guilty on Wednesday and was ordered to be detained without bail.

His arrest represents a major setback for the Bannon-linked MAGA [Make America Great Again] right, with one of his funders facing a criminal indictment and having over half of a billion in assets freezed.

Steve Bannon recently has become one of the major right-wing players through his live stream “War Room Programme,” where he holds guests to promote his Trumpist vision of the world. It also has a song named “Take Down The CCP.”