FBI Nabs Steve Bannon's Chinese Billionaire Ally

Guo Wengui, an exiled Chinese billionaire with business ties to Steve Bannon, has been arrested on federal charges out of New York.

Photo Insert: Guo and Bannon have been under investigation in connection with GTV Media Group, which the Securities and Exchange Commission previously accused of violating securities laws.

Guo owned the 152-foot-long yacht Lady May on which Bannon was arrested in August 2020, Aaron Katersky reported for ABC News.

Guo and Bannon have been under investigation in connection with GTV Media Group, which the Securities and Exchange Commission previously accused of violating securities laws.

The FBI arrested Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, Wednesday morning in New York on charges he orchestrated a $1 billion fraud.

"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," US Attorney Damian Williams said.

The SEC filed civil charges that accused Guo and his financial adviser, Kin Ming Je, of "multiple offering frauds" targeting retail investors.

"Since in or about April 2020, Guo has conducted fraudulent securities offerings that have collectively raised at least hundreds of millions of dollars from investors in the US and around the world," the SEC complaint said.

Guo, 54, pitched three unregistered securities offerings to investors as a means of obtaining shares in GTV and a fourth offering as a means to obtain a crypto asset security called "H-Coin" that he falsely claimed was backed by gold reserves, the SEC said.

The FBI in New York is also working to determine whether a two-alarm fire at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel is linked to the arrest of Guo, ABC News said. FBI agents were still inside Guo’s apartment at the time the fire broke out at 12:02 p.m., sources told ABC News.

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