Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have brought money laundering charges against The Epoch Times’ chief financial officer, Weidong “Bill” Guan, alleging he oversaw a scheme that funneled at least $67 million in fraud proceeds through the media company’s bank accounts between 2020 and May 2024.1United States Department of Justice. Chief Financial Officer of Multinational Media Company Charged With Participating in Scheme to Launder at Least $67 Million in Fraud Proceeds The indictment describes a team using cryptocurrency to buy stolen money at a discount, moving it into company accounts, and booking it as legitimate revenue. The case remains pending in federal court as of early 2026.
What Guan Is Charged With
The indictment splits into two categories: money laundering conspiracy and bank fraud.
The money laundering count falls under 18 U.S.C. § 1956, which criminalizes financial transactions conducted with knowledge that the funds come from illegal activity, especially when the transactions are designed to conceal the source. Each money laundering count carries up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved, whichever is greater.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1956 – Laundering of Monetary Instruments With $67 million alleged, the doubled-value fine calculation dwarfs the statutory baseline.
The bank fraud charges come under 18 U.S.C. § 1344, which covers schemes to defraud a financial institution or obtain bank-held assets through false representations. Each bank fraud count carries up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1,000,000.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 1344 – Bank Fraud Guan also faces a conspiracy charge under 18 U.S.C. § 1349, which sets the same penalty for conspiring to commit bank fraud as for completing it.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 1349 – Attempt and Conspiracy
How the Scheme Allegedly Worked
At the center of the indictment is a group prosecutors call the “Make Money Online” team, or MMO team, which operated out of a foreign office of The Epoch Times under Guan’s direct management. The mechanics were simple in outline. The team used cryptocurrency to buy stolen money at roughly 70 to 80 cents on the dollar.1United States Department of Justice. Chief Financial Officer of Multinational Media Company Charged With Participating in Scheme to Launder at Least $67 Million in Fraud Proceeds That discount is the laundering margin: criminals holding dirty funds accept less than face value to convert them into something harder to trace.
The stolen money came from various sources, including fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, and had been loaded onto tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards. The MMO team bought those cards with cryptocurrency, then moved the funds from the cards into accounts belonging to The Epoch Times and its affiliated entities through various payment processors. On the company’s books, the deposits appeared as subscription revenue or donations.
The Revenue Jump That Drew Attention
The numbers explain why investigators looked. Prosecutors say The Epoch Times’ annual revenue rose from roughly $15 million in 2019 to approximately $62 million in 2020. That kind of overnight growth is rare for a media company, and investigators allege the surge came almost entirely from the laundered funds rather than genuine subscription or audience gains.
The Bank Secrecy Act obligates financial institutions to file Currency Transaction Reports for transactions above $10,000 in a day and Suspicious Activity Reports for transactions of $5,000 or more that appear tied to illegal activity or structured to evade reporting.5Internal Revenue Service. Bank Secrecy Act6FinCEN.gov. The Bank Secrecy Act Tens of millions of dollars flowing through accounts without a matching business explanation is exactly the pattern those systems exist to flag.
Alleged Deception of the Banks
Banks run compliance programs to catch this kind of activity, and a sudden deposit surge prompts questions. The indictment alleges that when banking officials flagged the revenue jump, Guan lied to them directly and supplied fabricated letters claiming the incoming funds were legitimate donations from supporters.1United States Department of Justice. Chief Financial Officer of Multinational Media Company Charged With Participating in Scheme to Launder at Least $67 Million in Fraud Proceeds
That is where the bank fraud charges attach. A bank does not need to lose money for the statute to apply. Using false documents to deceive a financial institution about account activity is enough to trigger liability under 18 U.S.C. § 1344.3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 1344 – Bank Fraud From the prosecution’s perspective, the fabricated donation letters kept the accounts open and delayed the reports that would have brought law enforcement in sooner.
What This Means for The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times Association Inc. operates as a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. That status carries obligations that make the allegations consequential for the organization itself, apart from Guan’s personal exposure.
Nonprofits must disclose significant diversions of assets on their annual Form 990. A diversion is significant when it exceeds the lesser of $250,000, 5% of gross receipts, or 5% of total assets for the relevant tax year. The alleged $67 million clears all three thresholds by a wide margin. Organizations that discover a diversion must report details, including corrective action, even for prior years.
Separately, the IRS can impose excise taxes on “excess benefit transactions” where insiders receive more than fair value from a nonprofit. If Guan personally benefited from the scheme, as prosecutors allege, those transactions could produce additional tax liability for both the individual and the organization. In extreme cases the IRS can revoke tax-exempt status altogether, exposing all future income to federal taxation.
The Epoch Times as an organization has not been charged.
Asset Forfeiture and Victim Recovery
Money laundering convictions open the door to federal asset forfeiture, and the exposure here reaches well beyond prison time. Under 18 U.S.C. § 981, the government can seize any property involved in a money laundering transaction, along with any property traceable to it.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 US Code 981 – Civil Forfeiture For a scheme allegedly involving $67 million, that number sets the ceiling.
Forfeiture can move through either criminal or civil channels. Civil forfeiture under § 981 can proceed without a criminal conviction, and the government only needs to show by a preponderance of the evidence that the property is connected to the laundering. In practical terms, The Epoch Times’ accounts and assets purchased with allegedly laundered funds could be seized regardless of how Guan’s criminal case resolves.
Victims of the underlying crimes, including individuals and government agencies defrauded through the stolen unemployment benefits, can petition the Department of Justice for a share of any forfeited funds through a process called remission. Petitioners document their specific losses, and if claims exceed the recovered amount, distributions are made proportionally.
Where the Case Stands
The case remains in federal court in the Southern District of New York as of early 2026. Trial dates have been adjourned multiple times, with proceedings reportedly pushed into 2026, and Guan has not entered a guilty plea. The indictment references co-conspirators, though no other individuals have been publicly named in the charging documents. The $67 million figure represents money prosecutors say moved through the company’s accounts over roughly four years; if proven, the majority of the company’s reported revenue growth during that period was fraudulent.1United States Department of Justice. Chief Financial Officer of Multinational Media Company Charged With Participating in Scheme to Launder at Least $67 Million in Fraud Proceeds