Former Epoch Times executive pleads guilty to multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that funded newspaper
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MANHATTAN (CN) — A former finance executive at The Epoch Times pleaded guilty Thursday to running a $67 million fraud scheme that funneled illicit proceeds to the right-wing newspaper.
Weidong “Bill” Guan, 63, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds. The plea came on the third day of jury selection for Guan’s federal trial as prospective jurors waited in a neighboring courtroom.
The jurors ultimately were not needed. Guan admitted that, as The Epoch Times’ chief financial officer, he began working with a Vietnam-based group known as the “Make Money Online” team in 2019.
As he explained to U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero, the goal of the program was to “increase the amount of donations” made to The Epoch Times — a controversial newspaper associated with the Falun Gong new religious movement, which has tied itself to far-right politics and conspiracy theories in Europe and the United States.
Prosecutors say the scheme worked. During the fraud, The Epoch Times’ annual revenue grew from about $15 million to roughly $62 million, according to Guan’s 2024 indictment.
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