Chinese exile once linked to Trump strategist gets 30-year sentence in $1 billion fraud

Policy Chinese exile once linked to Trump strategist gets 30-year sentence in $1 billion fraud The businessman known as Miles Guo, who pushed the fraudulent H-Coin project and had close ties to Steve Bannon, was finally sentenced after his 2024 conviction. By Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De Jun 30, 2026, 4:31 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on Guo Wen-gui in April 2017 (VOAnews/Wikipedia) Summary Show Chinese businessman Miles Guo was sentenced to 30 years for several crimes, including running a fraudulent crypto operation. Guo, who had ties to President Donald Trump's former political adviser, Steven Bannon, had created Himalaya Coin, known as H-Coin. A U.S. judge sentenced Chinese businessman Miles Guo , the billionaire behind the fraudulent crypto venture Himalaya Coin, to 30 years in prison, long after a trial jury found the well-connected defendant was guilty of several crimes in 2024 . Guo, 55, also known as Ho Wan Kwok and a number of other aliases, was a self-imposed exile from China who had a close relationship with Steve Bannon, the former strategist of President Donald Trump who has had his own legal entanglements. In 2021, Guo had pushed his fraudulent crypto token, known as H-Coin, telling prospective buyers that it was 20% backed by gold and that the operation would cover 100% of investment losses. He was said to pull in $500 million in investments, which was just one element of what U.S. authorities called "interrelated fraud schemes" perpetrated over five years, leading to his conviction on counts including racketeering, fraud and money laundering. “Miles Guo led a massive scheme to steal more than $1 billion through lies and deception from thousands of Americans and victims around the world,” said Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean Buckley , in a statement. “After immigrating to this country, rather than being satisfied with the many legitimate opportunities afforded to him, Guo exploited the trust that thousands had placed in him for his own greed." Guo, who ran GTV Media Group and was arrested in 2023, had been ordered to give up almost $900 million in proceeds, his ownership of a New Jersey mansion and a number of luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce Phantom and a Bugatti. Former top Trump aide Bannon had been arrested on a 150-foot yacht owned by Guo in 2020 when he was federally charged in a fraudulent fundraising case that Trump wiped away with a pardon in 2021. He was pursued again at the state level and pleaded guilty in 2025, but he avoided a prison sentence . Crime Fraud Latest Crypto News 1 Jefferies warns of crypto market volatility as Clarity Act faces Senate test 1 hour ago 2 Circle slides 13% as Stripe, Coinbase and BlackRock back rival stablecoin network 2 hours ago 3 MetaMask launches Money Account with stablecoin yield and spending in one wallet 2 hours ago 4 Tokenized securities need competition, not gatekeepers 3 hours ago 5 Nasdaq expands distribution of its market data into blockchain infrastructure 3 hours ago 6 Bitcoin’s quiet $59,000-$60,000 range is starting to look dangerous 4 hours ago 7 New York Life's $800 billion asset manager makes tokenization debut with Centrifuge fund 5 hours ago 8 Bitcoin $4.4 billion supply overhang emerges as institutional demand wilts 5 hours ago 9 Bitcoin nears 2024 lows as options traders pay up for downside protection 5 hours ago 10 Strategy heads for 11th losing month in 12 as bitcoin weakness continues 5 hours ago Latest Research Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness Building the Zcash Machine: Tachyon and Quantum Readiness Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. By CoinDesk Research 5 hours ago Commissioned by GenZcash Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. Why it matters : Zcash’s Tachyon upgrade aims to scale shielded payments, improve quantum readiness, and test whether its funding, security, and governance can hold. View Full Report More From Policy Jefferies warns of crypto market volatility as Clarity Act faces Senate test UK to lower stablecoin capital buffers, undercutting EU's MiCA requirements SEC wins $5.5 million default judgment over alleged fake crypto platform NanoBit