The Ides of March has turned out to be a fateful day for Guo Wengui, the fugitive Chinese billionaire and Steve Bannon associate who was involved in spreading pornographic images of Hunter Biden, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and peddled coronavirus and vaccine misinformation for profit.
Today, my colleague Dan Friedman was the first to report news of Guo's arrest in a scheme to defraud his online fans of more than $1 billion. As Dan writes:
Guo...bombarded his fans with solicitations to invest in a slew of ventures. He promised that investors would profit, and he also claimed their investments would help “take down the CCP” by boosting an entity called the New Federal State of China that he and Bannon founded in 2020. That organization claims to be prepared to replace China’s government.
In indicting Guo, prosecutors said this was all a scam.
The entire saga has been very weird, from Guo taking a blood oath on a yacht in front of the Statue of Liberty to his attempt to sell unvaccinated sperm and eggs. So, it seems natural that Guo's arrest should be very strange, as well. A few hours after Guo was arrested at his 15-room penthouse in Manhattan's Sherry-Netherland hotel, a fire broke out in the building, significantly damaging Guo's home. The FBI is now investigating whether the fire is somehow related to his arrest.
Don't miss Dan's deep dive on Guo's relationship with Bannon, and we'll keep you posted with the latest on MotherJones.com.
—Abigail Weinberg