Wealthy self-exiled Chinese businessman goes on trial in alleged $1 billion fraud scheme

By LARRY NEUMEISTER
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — A wealthy Chinese businessman who left his homeland and became a U.S.-based outspoken critic of China’s Communist Party has gone on trial in New York on charges that he defrauded people worldwide of over $1 billion. Guo Wengui sat with his lawyers in Manhattan federal court Wednesday as jury selection began for a trial projected to last seven weeks. Opening statements were likely to occur on Thursday. Guo pleaded not guilty after his March 2023 arrest for what prosecutors say was a five-year fraud scheme that began in 2018.