Top aide admits to $1 billion fraud conspiracy ahead of Chinese mogul's trial
Yvette Wang, the former chief of staff to Guo Wengui, pleaded guilty to fraud weeks before her former boss is set to stand trial.
TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images
- A former aide to Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui has pleaded guilty to fraud.
- Yvette Wang admitted to conspiracy weeks before her ex-boss is set to stand trial.
- Guo is accused of defrauding online followers out of more than $1 billion.
Yvette Wang, a former aide to indicted Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, pleaded guilty to fraud, federal prosecutors said Friday.
Wang used to work for Guo, a self-exiled rapper, influencer, crypto guru, and real estate mogul who himself is facing 11 counts of fraud and money laundering charges.
William Je, Guo's financier, is facing the same charges — plus an additional count of obstruction of justice, according to the Department of Justice.
Federal prosecutors allege that Guo was the leader of a conspiracy that asked hundreds of thousands of followers to make investments based on false statements. He used the proceeds to buy a New Jersey mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, two $36,000 mattresses, and other extravagant purchases, prosecutors allege.
US Attorney Damian Williams said Friday that Wang, 45, played "a leadership role" in the scheme, which "collected more than $1 billion from innocent victims located throughout the country and the world."
Wang's guilty pleas — to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering — carry a maximum sentence of 10 years.
She also agreed to pay $1.4 billion in restitution and forfeit the same amount to the US, according to the DOJ.
She will be sentenced on September 10. Wang's lawyers did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
Guo, an associate of longtime Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon, is set to stand trial later this month.