Alleged co-conspirators Guo Wengui and Steve Bannon in 2018. Don Emmert/Getty
A longtime lieutenant and criminal co-defendant of far-right Chinese fugitive mogul Guo Wengui has agreed to plead guilty to fraud charges ahead of their upcoming trial. This development strengthens the position of federal prosecutors in a case in which they have called Steve Bannon, a vocal Guo ally, a “co-conspirator.”
Yvette Wang, Guo’s former chief of staff and alleged co-conspirator in defrauding thousands of Guo supporters of more than $1 billion, pleaded not guilty after her arrest in March 2023. Like Guo, who was arrested the same day and also pleaded not guilty, Wang was denied bond as possible flight risk and has been jailed since her arrest. A brief order posted Thursday by District Court judge Annalisa Torres, however, sets a hearing Friday morning for Wang to change her plea to guilty.
Wang’s guilty plea is likely an effort to shorten her possible prison sentence. There is no indication so far that she has reached a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. But her plea nevertheless bolsters the massive fraud and racketeering case against Guo. Another Guo associate charged in the case will not stand trial because he is fugitive, believed to be in the United Arab Emirates.
Guo is a former Chinese real estate mogul and billionaire who fled to the US in 2015, just before Chinese authorities charged him with a series of financial crimes. In 2017, Guo began publicly issuing allegations of corruption and other malfeasance against Chinese Communist Party leaders. His anti-CCP pronouncements and Chinese efforts to silence Guo or force his extradition helped him win thousands of ardent supporters among Chinese emigres and gain attention from US China hawks.
Shortly after Bannon’s 2017 ouster from the Trump White House, he began working for Guo as an adviser and consultant, helping the mogul craft an image as a fearless CCP critic and launch a series of nonprofit and media organizations the men claimed aimed to “take down the CCP.” Wang, Guo’s top assistant since he entered the US, was closely involved in that effort. Guo’s organizations also supported Trump and regularly pushed bizarre false claims about Covid and the 2020 election.
Prosecutors charged last year that Guo’s political posturing was a con. They allege that Guo used the organizations he launched with Bannon “to amass followers who were aligned with his purported campaign against the Chinese Communist Party and who were also inclined to believe [Guo’s] statements regarding investment and moneymaking opportunities,” so that he could defraud them. They charge that he pocketed hundreds of millions in supposed investments and used them to fund a lavish lifestyle that included a $3.5 million Ferrari, a $26 million mansion, a $30 million yacht, a $140,000 piano, and two $36,000 mattresses.
Bannon has not been charged in the case, but in a filing last month, prosecutors labeled him a “co-conspirator” and noted that he received at least $1 million in funds they alleged Guo misappropriated from investors. That filing was part of an effort by prosecutors to ensure that evidence related to the former Trump adviser can be admitted during trial. (Out of court statements that would otherwise be barred as hearsay can be used as evidence if they come from an alleged co-conspirator.) But that designation, along with Wang’s guilty plea, will likely cause more legal worry for Bannon, who also faces a four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress, if his appeal effort fails, and an upcoming fraud trial in New York in a separate case.
