Chinese Businessman Miles Guo Sentenced to 30 Years for $1 Billion Crypto Fraud Scheme

TLDR

• Chinese businessman Miles Guo sentenced to 30 years in prison
• Guo ran fraudulent crypto token H-Coin, falsely claiming it was 20% backed by gold
• Prosecutors say he raised over $1 billion from thousands of victims worldwide
• He was convicted of racketeering, fraud, and money laundering
• Guo must forfeit nearly $900 million, a New Jersey mansion, and luxury vehicles

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Chinese businessman Miles Guo has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for running a $1 billion fraud scheme that included a fake cryptocurrency project.

A New York federal judge handed down the sentence following Guo’s 2024 conviction on charges of racketeering, fraud, and money laundering.

Guo, also known as Ho Wan Kwok, is 55 years old. He fled China in 2017 and later reinvented himself as a critic of the Chinese Communist Party, building a large online following among Chinese communities in the United States.

Prosecutors said he used that following to run a series of fraud schemes between 2018 and 2023.

One of those schemes was Himalaya Coin, also called H-Coin. Guo told potential investors the token was 20% backed by gold and that the project would cover 100% of investment losses. Neither claim was true.

He pulled in an estimated $500 million from H-Coin alone. Combined with other schemes, prosecutors say the total reached over $1 billion.

Judge Analisa Torres said Guo had “preyed on those seeking to bring democracy to China,” taking their money to fund a lavish personal lifestyle.

That lifestyle included a 50,000 square foot mansion, a $37 million yacht, a $1 million Lamborghini, and a Bugatti.

His Connection to Steve Bannon

Guo had a close relationship with Steve Bannon, the former adviser to President Donald Trump.

The two appeared frequently in online videos together. In 2020, they launched a campaign called the New Federal State of China, which aimed to overthrow the Chinese Communist Party.

That same year, Bannon was arrested on Guo’s 150-foot yacht in Connecticut. He was charged in a separate fraud case involving a fundraising campaign to build a border wall between the US and Mexico.

Trump pardoned Bannon on those federal charges in the final hours of his first term in office. Bannon later pleaded guilty to a state-level charge in 2025 and received a conditional discharge, avoiding prison.

Guo was arrested in 2023 and has been ordered to forfeit nearly $900 million in proceeds, as well as his New Jersey mansion and several luxury cars.

Guo Plans to Appeal

Guo’s lawyer, Melinda Sarafa, called the 30-year sentence “excessive.” She said it fails to account for thousands of investors who say they were not defrauded.

Guo maintains his innocence and plans to appeal both his conviction and his sentence.

The courtroom was packed with his supporters when the sentence was handed down.

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