Weidong Guan

Overview

Weidong “Bill” Guan is the former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times Association, a New York-based international media company. On July 9, 2026, Guan pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to one count of conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds, arising from an alleged $67 million-plus transnational money-laundering scheme; he is scheduled to be sentenced on December 4, 2026. (DOJ plea release; DOJ case page)

Guan, 63, of Secaucus, New Jersey, was charged in June 2024 with conspiring to launder fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits and other crime proceeds through accounts of the media company and its related entities; prosecutors say the scheme lifted the company’s reported annual revenue by roughly 410 percent. (DOJ indictment release; NPR) The case is docketed as United States v. Weidong Guan and Le Van Hung, No. 24 Cr. 322 (VM), before U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero in the Southern District of New York, and the DOJ has stressed that the charges do not relate to the company’s newsgathering activities. (DOJ case page; DOJ plea release)

The alleged money-laundering scheme

From at least in or about 2020 through May 2024, Guan allegedly conspired to launder at least approximately $67 million in illegally obtained funds into bank accounts of the media company and related entities. (DOJ indictment release) He managed the company’s “Make Money Online” (MMO) team, located in a foreign office, which used cryptocurrency to knowingly purchase tens of millions in crime proceeds — including fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits loaded onto tens of thousands of prepaid debit cards — at 70 to 80 cents on the dollar. (DOJ indictment release)

Participants allegedly used stolen personal identification information to open accounts, moved proceeds into the media entities’ accounts, and laundered them onward through media-entity accounts, Guan’s personal bank accounts, and his personal crypto accounts. (DOJ indictment release) As the scheme began, internal accounting showed revenue jumping about 410 percent, from roughly $15 million to $62 million. (DOJ indictment release) When banks questioned the flows, Guan allegedly lied — including to two U.S.-based banks — calling them donations, and in 2022 wrote a congressional office falsely saying donations were “an insignificant portion” of revenue. (DOJ indictment release)

From indictment to guilty plea: the two-year courtroom path

Guan was arrested on June 2, 2024, the indictment was unsealed the next day, and he was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stewart D. Aaron; the case was assigned to Judge Victor Marrero. (DOJ indictment release) He pleaded not guilty, remained in custody facing a $3 million bail package, and The Epoch Times suspended him while pledging cooperation with the investigation. (NPR) On November 18, 2024, a superseding indictment unsealed against co-conspirator Le Van Hung — also “Hung Van Le” and “Van Hung Le” — added money-laundering, bank-fraud, and identity-theft conspiracy charges plus aggravated identity theft; Hung had been extradited from South Korea on November 15 and was detained. (DOJ case page) Trial kept slipping: set for October 6, 2025, adjourned to February 2, 2026, then to July 7, 2026. (DOJ case page) Hung pleaded guilty on June 26, 2026, to conspiracy to commit identity theft (sentencing set for October 9, 2026); on July 9, 2026, during the third day of jury selection, Guan interrupted proceedings to plead guilty to one conspiracy count, admitting he knew there was a “high probability” the money was criminal proceeds and calling it a “tremendous lapse in judgment.” (DOJ plea release; AP)

Nonprofit roles and the tax-return complaint

Guan was also treasurer and director of the Epoch Public Foundation and CFO of The Epoch Times Association, and is listed as the signatory on both organizations’ 2022 tax returns and the foundation’s 2021 return. (Accountable.US complaint; NPR) NPR’s June 2024 reporting, citing nonprofit-accounting experts, described the related nonprofits’ returns as a “hot mess”: the association’s revenue jumped from under $15.5 million in 2019 to $121.5 million in 2021, while the foundation reported about $21 million in cash on hand at end of 2021 — up from under $410,000 — even as $20.5 million was owed to related organizations. (NPR)

On June 13, 2024, Accountable.US, through president Caroline Ciccone, filed an IRS complaint seeking a civil investigation of the two nonprofits’ 2021 and 2022 returns, alleging grants reported by one organization but not the other and missing donor disclosures. (Accountable.US complaint) Because neither nonprofit reported using a paid preparer, the complaint alleged Guan “may have also been responsible for preparing each of these returns” in addition to signing them; it cites the criminal case as United States v. Guan, No. 1:24-cr-00322-VM. (Accountable.US complaint) Founder and CEO John Zhong Tang resigned on June 7, 2024, and Falun Gong’s founding leader Li Hongzhi published two columns scolding the outlet’s leadership. (NPR)

	Original indictment (June 3, 2024)	Guilty plea (July 9, 2026)
Charge	Conspiracy to commit money laundering — max 20 years (DOJ)	Conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds — max 10 years (DOJ)
Charge	Bank fraud, count 1 — max 30 years (DOJ)	Not included in plea
Charge	Bank fraud, count 2 — max 30 years (DOJ)	Not included in plea
Financial terms	—	Agreed forfeiture of at least $67M; restitution of up to $67M (DOJ)

Frequently asked questions

Who is Weidong “Bill” Guan? Weidong “Bill” Guan is the former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times Association and previously treasurer and director of the affiliated Epoch Public Foundation. He was charged in June 2024 over an alleged $67 million-plus money-laundering scheme and pleaded guilty to a single conspiracy count in July 2026. (DOJ indictment release; Accountable.US complaint)

What exactly did Guan plead guilty to? On July 9, 2026, Guan pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds, carrying a maximum ten-year prison sentence. He also agreed to forfeit at least $67 million and pay up to $67 million in restitution; the original bank-fraud counts were not part of the plea. (DOJ plea release)

How did the alleged scheme work? Guan allegedly managed the “Make Money Online” team, which used cryptocurrency to buy tens of millions in crime proceeds — mainly fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits on prepaid debit cards — at 70 to 80 cents on the dollar, then moved the funds through accounts opened with stolen identities into company-linked accounts. (DOJ indictment release)

What is the current status of Guan’s case? Guan pleaded guilty on July 9, 2026, before Judge Victor Marrero and remains free on bail pending sentencing, scheduled for December 4, 2026, in Manhattan federal court. Co-defendant Le Van Hung pleaded guilty to an identity-theft conspiracy on June 29, 2026. (DOJ case page; AP)

What did Accountable.US allege about the nonprofits’ tax returns? In a June 13, 2024 IRS complaint, Accountable.US alleged inconsistencies and reporting errors in the Epoch Public Foundation’s and The Epoch Times Association’s 2021–2022 returns, noted Guan signed the returns and may have prepared them since no paid preparer was reported, and sought a civil IRS investigation. (Accountable.US complaint)

What this profile does not claim

This profile does not claim Guan was convicted at trial — he pleaded guilty, and sentencing had not occurred as of October 24, 2026. It does not claim the IRS acted on the Accountable.US complaint; no public record of action was located. It states revenue figures as reported by their sources rather than a single figure, since the DOJ’s internal-accounting and NPR’s tax-filing numbers differ. It does not claim the charges touched The Epoch Times’ journalism — the DOJ says the conduct does not relate to newsgathering activities. And it makes no claim about Guan’s personal background beyond the public court and tax records.