A US judge sentenced Chinese businessman Miles Guo, the billionaire behind fraudulent crypto venture Himalaya Coin, to 30 years in prison, long after a trial found the well-connected defendant guilty of multiple crimes in 2024.
Guo, 55, also known as Ho Wan Kwok and a number of other aliases, was a self-imposed exile from China who had a close relationship with Steve Bannon, the former strategist for President Donald Trump, who has had his own legal entanglements. By 2021, Guo had pushed his fraudulent crypto token, known as H-Coin, telling potential buyers that it was 20% backed by gold and that the operation would cover 100% of investment losses.
He is said to be pulling in $500 million in investments, which was just one element of what US authorities called “continuous fraud schemes” perpetrated over five years that led to his conviction on charges including extortion, fraud and money laundering.
