The US Department of Justice (DoJ) charged Bill Gowan, CFO of the Epoch Times, on Tuesday, alleging his involvement in an international scheme to launder nearly $67 million in illicit funds using cryptocurrencies.
the details:
From 2020 until May 2024, Bill Guan was leading an international money laundering operation, according to the official statement issued by the Ministry of Justice.
Investigations indicate that Guan, in cooperation with other accomplices, laundered these illegal funds through the bank accounts of Epoch Times and its associated entities.
According to the ministry, “Guan” was managing the company’s Money Online (MMO) team from an overseas office.
The team used cryptocurrencies as a means to purchase tens of millions of dollars in illicit proceeds, mostly from fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and loaded onto prepaid debit cards.
Investigations show that these proceeds were purchased at discounted prices of between 70 and 80 cents per dollar via a certain cryptocurrency platform, and then exchanged for digital assets.
The team also used stolen identity information to open various accounts, including prepaid debit card accounts, cryptocurrency accounts, and bank accounts, to facilitate the transfer of illicit funds to the media company's bank accounts.
At the beginning of this money laundering operation, Epoch Times saw its annual revenues skyrocket by approximately 410%, rising from approximately $15 million to $62 million.
When banks began questioning Joan about these large increases in transactions, he allegedly falsely claimed that the money was coming from donations.
In an attempt to justify the sources of the funds, “Joan” wrote in 2022 to a congressional office, falsely asserting that donations constituted a small portion of the company’s total revenues.
Bill Gowan, a 61-year-old resident of Secaucus, New Jersey, is currently facing charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which could result in a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
He also faces two additional counts of bank fraud, each carrying a potential 30-year prison sentence.
#TopCoinsJune2024 #Binance200M #altcoins #ETFvsBTC #MantaRWA