A 15-room Manhattan penthouse owned by a suspected Chinese billionaire burst into flames Wednesday, and firefighters were called as the FBI hoped to raid the premises.
Guo Wengui, a close ally of Donald Trump’s former strategy adviser Steve Bannon, was arrested Wednesday on charges of running a $1 billion online scam.
Guo’s Central Park-view home, which he bought in 2015 for $67.5 million, caught fire.
Agents are investigating whether the fire was linked to Guo’s arrest. But they have yet to offer more details, including whether it was set off by a booby trap designed to destroy evidence.
Guo Wengui was pictured on the balcony of his New York apartment in November 2017. He is now accused of orchestrating a $1 billion scam and spending the money on luxury items including a $36,000 yacht, mansion and mattresses
Hours after Guo Wengui was arrested at his $32 million apartment on Wednesday, a fire broke out at the famous Sherry-Netherland Hotel
One of the six bedrooms in the 15 room penthouse which occupies an entire floor
The property was on the market for $32.5 million – Guo had filed for bankruptcy in February 2022 after being ordered by a New York court to pay $254 million in a construction contract dispute.
He told the co-op board he would buy it in cash: they were suspicious at first, but a letter of recommendation from Tony Blair helped allay fears, The New Yorker reported in October.
The seller, Sotheby’s, described the sale as a “rare opportunity to own a stylish and distinctive residence in one of the finest pre-war co-ops in New York”.
Previous residents of the building have included Diana Ross, Francis Ford Coppola, and David Bowie.
The penthouse was on the roof of the Sherry Netherland Hotel, allowing Guo to benefit from the hotel’s services – including 24-hour doormen and elevator attendants, daily housekeeping, nightly turndown service, valet parking, room service from Harry Cipriani Restaurant, a fitness center , a hair salon and a beauty salon.
With six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, the property occupies the entire 18th floor.
It has five large entertaining spaces – including a living room, library, dining room, and study or media room.
“The flexible floor plan of this massive apartment is perfect for great entertaining and a big lifestyle full of family and guests,” say the agents.
Perhaps its biggest selling point is the huge terrace that wraps around the building, with views west, south, and north.
The penthouse has terraces facing north, south and west
The penthouse is described by Sotheby’s as “a stylish and distinctive residence in one of the finest pre-war coops in New York”.
The floor plan for the penthouse
The “cave” or media room with the wraparound deck and views of Central Park
The Sherry Netherlands Hotel. The private penthouse is located at the top of the residential wing
Firefighters were seen entering the hotel on Wednesday
The two-alarm fire burned for several hours before it was brought under control and FDNY crews conducted security checks.
Guo, a close associate of Donald Trump’s former strategic adviser Steve Bannon, is expected to appear in court this afternoon on 12 charges related to the massive fraud. He scammed his legion of online followers with bogus investments, then injected the money into a mansion and other outrageous luxuries, prosecutors claim.
The business magnate, who also uses aliases like Ho Wan Kwok, spent the money on a 50,000-square-foot mansion in New Jersey, a Lamborghini supercar and a luxury yacht valued at about $37 million.
He also showed off about $978,000 in Chinese and Persian rugs, a $62,000 television, a $53,000 firewood holder and two mattresses that cost $36,000 each, federal investigators say .
Prosecutors on Wednesday revealed information about the sophisticated scam, as well as extraordinary details about the luxury goods stolen from Guo. Guo is being charged along with his financial adviser William Je, a dual Hong Kong/UK citizen who acted as the “financial architect and key money launderer” of the fraud.
The pair reportedly convinced investors to give them cash that they would turn into a huge return in what prosecutors are calling a classic pyramid scheme.
About $634 million held in 21 different bank accounts was also seized by investigators, US attorneys said.
Guo Wengui is pictured on the left with Steve Bannon on the right. In 2018, Guo teamed up with Bannon to use a gimmick to overthrow the Chinese communist government
Smoke billowed from the luxury hotel’s upper floors as firefighters rushed to the scene hours after Guo Wengui was arrested
The FBI is investigating whether the two-alarm fire is linked to the arrest of Guo Wengui on charges of masterminds of a $1 billion fraud
Firefighters on Wednesday in front of the hotel
US Attorney Damian Williams said: “Ho Wan Kwok, known to many as ‘Miles Guo’, led a complex conspiracy to defraud thousands of his online followers out of over $1 billion.
“Kwok is accused of lining his pockets with the money he stole, including buying himself and his close relatives, a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari and even two mattresses worth $36,000; and financing a $37 million luxury yacht.”
Guo is closely associated with Bannon, the right-wing arsonist who helped Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election and then served as the White House’s chief strategist.
Bannon was arrested in August 2020 on Guo’s 152-foot yacht Lady May on fraud allegations related to the “We Build the Wall” fundraiser for a US-Mexico wall.
Prosecutors have seized Guo’s $37 million Lady May yacht, on which former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was arrested in 2020 on unrelated charges on board
Prosecutors released images of a 50,000-square-foot New Jersey mansion that Guo allegedly bought with cash obtained from the scam
A $4.4 million custom-built Bugatti Veyron supercar seized by authorities who say Guo orchestrated a $1 billion scam
Prosecutors in New York say Guo made false claims about “investment and money-making opportunities” to his hundreds of thousands of online followers. He founded two non-profit organizations, the Rule of Law Foundation and the Rule of Law Society, and allegedly used them as a cover for his fraud.
Guo, Je and unnamed accomplices made hundreds of millions of dollars net by encouraging bogus investments by his followers.
Prosecutors obtained warrants in September last year to begin confiscating the ill-gotten gains.
The SEC also filed indictments today against Guo and Je alleging “multiple bid fraud” targeting retail investors online and through social media.
“Since around April 2020, Guo has conducted fraudulent securities offerings that have collectively raised at least hundreds of millions of dollars from investors in the United States and around the world,” the SEC case said.
‘Unknown to these investors, Guo and his financial adviser Je embezzled a large portion of the funds derived from certain offerings to enrich themselves and their family members.’
Guo made billions from business ventures in China before fleeing to the US in 2014 to avoid arrest on charges of bribery, kidnapping, money laundering, fraud and rape
Steve Bannon and Guo are friends, and the couple once performed a stunt flying a plane with an anti-CCP banner over the Statue of Liberty.
Guo was spotted at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in December 2018 in exclusive pictures released by
The exiled Chinese billionaire, pictured in Mar-a-Lago in 2018, filed for bankruptcy last year and claimed he was worth less than $100,000 – despite living in a $37 million apartment
Guo made billions from business ventures in China before fleeing to the US in 2014 to avoid arrest on charges of bribery, kidnapping, money laundering, fraud and rape.
He filed for bankruptcy in the US in February last year, claiming his fortune has dwindled to less than $100,000.
In 2018, Guo teamed up with Bannon to use a gimmick to overthrow the Chinese communist government. They performed a stunt flying a plane with an anti-CCP banner over the Statue of Liberty.
Guo also spilled his own blood on a document in which he vowed to overthrow Chinese President Xi Jinping’s party.