United States v. Guan

Overview

United States v. Guan (S.D.N.Y., No. 1:24-cr-00322-VM) is the federal criminal case against Weidong “Bill” Guan, the former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, over an alleged transnational scheme to launder at least $67 million in fraud proceeds through the media company’s accounts and related entities (DOJ indictment release). The indictment was unsealed on June 3, 2024; Guan pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count on July 9, 2026, during jury selection, and remained free on bail with sentencing scheduled for December 4, 2026, per the DOJ case page (DOJ plea release; DOJ case page).

The case is presided over by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York’s Public Corruption Unit (DOJ indictment release). The DOJ’s indictment release never named the company, referring only to a “multinational media company headquartered in New York City”; NPR, the Associated Press, and Bloomberg identified it as The Epoch Times, a conservative multinational outlet (NPR; AP).

The case also entered the nonprofit-oversight record: Accountable.US’s June 13, 2024 IRS complaint against the Epoch Public Foundation and The Epoch Times Association cites the case as United States v. Guan, No. 1:24-cr-00322-VM (S.D.N.Y.), filed May 23, 2024 (complaint).

The alleged laundering scheme

Prosecutors alleged the scheme ran from at least 2020 — later filings extended the start to “in or about 2019” — through May 2024 (DOJ plea release). Guan managed the company’s “Make Money Online” (MMO) team from a foreign office of the company (DOJ indictment release). Participants used cryptocurrency to buy tens of millions in crime proceeds — including fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits — loaded onto tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards, paying roughly 70 to 80 cents on the dollar (DOJ indictment release). Stolen personal identification information was used to open prepaid-debit-card, cryptocurrency, and bank accounts that funneled the proceeds into accounts of the media company and related entities; the money was then often further laundered through other company accounts and through Guan’s personal bank and cryptocurrency accounts (DOJ indictment release).

Around the time the scheme began, the company’s reported annual revenue jumped roughly 410% — from about $15 million to about $62 million (DOJ indictment release; NPR, citing federal tax filings, reported a jump from almost $15.5 million to over $70 million (NPR)). When banks questioned the surge, Guan lied — including to two U.S.-based banks — falsely claiming the funds came from legitimate donations (DOJ indictment release). Yet in 2022 he had written to a congressional office falsely stating that donations constituted “an insignificant portion” of the company’s overall revenue (DOJ indictment release). Both the indictment and plea releases stressed the alleged conduct did not relate to the company’s newsgathering activities (DOJ indictment release; DOJ plea release).

The June 2024 indictment charged Guan, 61, of Secaucus, New Jersey, with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering (maximum 20 years) and two counts of bank fraud (maximum 30 years each) (DOJ indictment release). He was arrested the morning of June 2, 2024, presented before Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron, and pleaded not guilty, facing a $3 million bail package (DOJ indictment release; NPR). The Epoch Times suspended him and said it intended to cooperate fully with the investigation (NPR).

The guilty pleas and where the case stands

On June 26, 2026, co-conspirator Le Van Hung — also known as “Hung Van Le” and “Van Hung Le” — pleaded guilty before Magistrate Judge Aaron to one count of conspiracy to commit identity theft (DOJ case page). (The DOL-OIG release dated the plea June 29, 2026; the DOJ’s canonical case page, updated August 5, 2026, says June 26, and this profile follows the later record.) Hung, 31, worked for the media company’s Vietnamese office, recruited and managed co-conspirators including MMO team members, and oversaw an operation that stole the identities of thousands of Americans; he agreed to forfeit at least $67 million and pay restitution of up to $67 million (DOL-OIG release).

On July 9, 2026, Guan interrupted jury selection at his money-laundering trial and pleaded guilty before Judge Marrero to one count of conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds, carrying a maximum of 10 years in prison — a plea that spared him the much longer combined exposure of the original charges (AP). U.S. Attorney Damian Williams had brought the 2024 charges; U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton announced the plea (DOJ indictment release; DOJ plea release). In his allocution, Guan admitted he knew of a “high probability” the money was “proceeds of criminality,” said he “chose to accept” explanations and “did not look deeper,” and called it “a tremendous lapse in judgment” (AP). Asked by the judge whether he was pleading guilty, he first said, “I feel like I’m guilty”; when Marrero said it was not a question of feeling, Guan answered, “I’m guilty” (AP). He agreed to forfeit at least $67 million and pay restitution of up to $67 million (DOJ plea release). A prosecutor said the abandoned trial would have featured testimony from current and former Epoch Times employees, cryptocurrency records, and hundreds of emails and texts, including some in which Guan misled banks (AP).

Guan remains free on bail with sentencing scheduled for December 4, 2026, at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 15B, 500 Pearl Street (DOJ case page). Hung’s sentencing, rescheduled from September 29 to October 9, 2026, had no publicly reported outcome as of October 24, 2026 (DOL-OIG release; DOJ plea release). After the plea, The Epoch Times said it “was never a party to the litigation” and “remains focused on producing award-winning and independent journalism” under chief executive Samuel Zhou and chief financial officer William Cheung (AP).

Stage	What happened	Maximum exposure
Indictment unsealed, June 3, 2024	One count conspiracy to commit money laundering; two counts bank fraud	20 years + 30 years per bank-fraud count (combined far above a decade)
Hung plea, June 26, 2026	One count conspiracy to commit identity theft; forfeiture ≥$67M; restitution up to $67M	5 years
Guan plea, July 9, 2026	One count conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds; forfeiture ≥$67M; restitution up to $67M; free on bail	10 years

Sources: DOJ indictment release; DOL-OIG release; DOJ plea release; AP.

FAQ

What was Epoch Times CFO Bill Guan charged with?

Weidong “Bill” Guan was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and two counts of bank fraud in a scheme prosecutors said laundered at least $67 million in fraud proceeds — including fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits — through The Epoch Times’ accounts and related entities (DOJ indictment release).

Was The Epoch Times itself charged with a crime?

No. The indictment referred only to an unnamed “multinational media company,” and the DOJ repeatedly stressed the conduct did not relate to the company’s newsgathering activities (DOJ indictment release). After Guan’s 2026 plea, the company said it “was never a party to the litigation” (AP).

What was the “Make Money Online” team?

The MMO team was a unit of the media company, based in one of its foreign offices and managed by Guan, that prosecutors said used cryptocurrency to buy tens of millions of dollars in crime proceeds loaded onto prepaid debit cards at 70 to 80 cents on the dollar, then moved the funds into company-linked accounts (DOJ indictment release).

Has Weidong Guan been sentenced?

No. He pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, during jury selection, and remains free on bail; his sentencing is scheduled for December 4, 2026, at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 15B, 500 Pearl Street, per the DOJ’s canonical case page (last updated August 5, 2026) — no outcome had been publicly reported as of October 24, 2026 (DOJ case page; AP).

What happened to co-defendant Le Van Hung?

Hung pleaded guilty on June 26, 2026 — the DOJ’s canonical case page (updated August 5, 2026) gives this date; a DOL-OIG release said June 29 — to conspiracy to commit identity theft for overseeing the identity-stealing operation behind the laundering scheme; he agreed to forfeit at least $67 million and pay up to $67 million in restitution (DOL-OIG release). His sentencing, rescheduled to October 9, 2026, had no publicly reported outcome as of October 24, 2026 (DOJ plea release).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not claim Guan has been sentenced: sentencing is scheduled for December 4, 2026, and no outcome had been publicly reported as of October 24, 2026.
• It does not claim Hung’s October 9, 2026 sentencing took place or state its outcome: no public record of it was found.
• The scheme mechanics are the prosecution’s allegations from charging documents and press releases — not court findings — except for the conduct Guan admitted in his plea allocution (that he knew of a “high probability” the funds were criminal proceeds).
• It does not repeat advocacy-outlet claims that Falun Gong leadership directed the scheme; the DOJ charged only individuals and disclaimed any link to the outlet’s newsgathering.
• It does not cover Guan’s pre-plea assertions of innocence: he pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, and the plea controls.
• The “filed May 23, 2024” date is the Accountable.US complaint’s docket citation; the June 3, 2024 unsealing is confirmed directly by the DOJ.