The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced March 15 a 12-count indictment charging Ho Wan Kwok, also known as “Miles Guo,” with wire fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.
Kwok was allegedly the leader of a $1 billion fraud conspiracy, according to a Department of Justice press release.
Kwok’s alleged financier, Je, has also been charged with obstruction of justice, the release stated. The charges come from an alleged complex scheme to solicit investments in various entities and programs with false statements and representations to hundreds of thousands of Kwok’s followers online. Kwok and Je allegedly misappropriated millions of dollars in fraudulently obtained funds.
Kwok was arrested March 15 in New York but Je has not been taken into custody.
“As alleged, Ho Wan Kwok, known to many as ‘Miles Guo,’ led a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of over $1 billion,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, said in the release. “Kwok is 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.
Between September 2022 and March 2023, about $634 million was seized from 21 bank accounts, according to the DOJ. Assets were also seized stemming from Kwok’s alleged fraud proceeds, which include a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roads.
“As alleged, Kwok lied to his victims and promised them outsized returns if they invested, or provided money to, GTV, his so-called Himalaya Farm Alliance, G Clubs, and the Himalaya Exchange,” Williams said. “Kwok is further charged with laundering hundreds of millions of stolen funds to conceal the conspiracy’s illegal activities and continue the fraud’s operations. My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to do all that we can to protect the community from the devastating consequences of pernicious fraud schemes.”
From about 2018 to March 2023, Kwok, Je, and others were involved in a conspiracy to defraud thousands of people of about $1 billion, the release stated. Kwok, who is an exiled businessman from China who has lived in the U.S. since about 2015, is the alleged mastermind that gained a large online following. He allegedly founded two nonprofit agencies: The Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society. These were allegedly used to bring in followers who believed Kwok’s statements about investments and opportunities to make money.
Je is a dual citizen of Hong Kong and the United Kingdom, where he is believed to live, the release stated. He owned several companies and investment vehicles that were a major part of the scheme. He is the alleged “financial architect and key money launderer.”
“The indictment today alleges the defendants were behind an elaborate scheme that defrauded thousands of individuals of over $1 billion,” FBI Assistant Director, Michael Driscoll, said. “Fraudulent investment scams make victims out of innocent people, ultimately harming the public’s confidence in the integrity of financial systems. The FBI continues to make investigating complex financial crimes a top priority, and anyone attempting these crimes will be made to face the consequences in the criminal justice system.”
