by Matt Palumbo
If bail is denied to New Federal State of China founder Guo Wengui (also known as Miles Guo and Ho Wan Kwok), it’s further proof of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) infiltration of the U.S. justice system.
The Eighth Amendment guarantees the right to reasonable bail, and New York’s 2019 “bail reform” law drastically lowered the standards of bail to the point where it regularly resulted in headline-making cases of violent criminals being let out without bail. In recent years, those let out on bail under the new law in just NYC included a man charged with shoving a NYPD officer onto subway tracks, a man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after punching a man, and a man who terrorized a McDonald’s patrons with an ax – among thousands of others.
But only with Guo, who is falsely accused of a non-violent white collar crime, is there supposedly a need for bail.
Other high-profile fraudsters were granted bail when they were still “accused fraudsters.” As Guo’s lawyers outline in arguing for him to be granted bail:
- Bernie Madoff, who ran a $50 billion ponzi scheme, the largest in the history of the world, was released on a $10 million personal recognizance bond. Among those Madoff stole millions from included holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel.
- Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX cryptocurrency exchange accused of up to $8 billion in fraud losses was released on a $250 million personal recognizance bond with two (initially) anonymous
- Elizabeth Holmes, who ran the fraudulent blood testing firm “Theranos,” which misdiagnosed customers with false HIV results, miscarriages, and cancer diagnoses. She also defrauded investors out of $700 million, and was released on a $500,000 bond that was initially unsecured.
- Jeffrey Skilling: Presided over the Enron scandal, which resulted in the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history at the time, resulting in losses of $60 billion. He was released on a $5 million secured bond.
- Jordan Belfort: Known better as the “Wolf of Wall Street,” Belfort caused losses over $200 million, and was released on a $10 million unsecured bond.
Even specific to the Southern District of New York, where Guo faces charges, that court regularly sets free individuals accused of financial crimes on bail.
While the government tries to argue for denying bail on the absurd basis that Guo is a “danger to the community” on the basis that he could commit additional crimes – that alleged logic never applied to those above.
In light of those individuals being granted bail, it would be a miscarriage of justice if Guo were denied it, especially because of the generous offer Guo’s legal team has offered. They proposed the following strict bail conditions;
- An appearance bond of $25 million, $5 million of which is to be secured by cash deposited with the Court, real estate assets, or a combination of both.
- Guo would surrender all travel documents if they exist, as would his U.S. based family (his wife and daughter).
- Guo would be subject to home detention at his Connecticut residence where his wife lives, or any location approved by the court or government.
- Guo would be subject to GPS or other surveillance 24/7 by a surveillance company, including at least one licensed guard on-site at all times that reports violations to the courts.
- Guo can’t enter any financial transactions without pre-approval from the government or the court, except to pay legal costs and fees.
The government’s arguments against bail are paper thin as the paper they’re printed on.
Anyone familiar with Guo must’ve burst out laughing when they read the government arguing that he’d be a flight risk. Not only were all of Guo’s travel documents confiscated when he was arrested, making this impossible, Guo is safer in the U.S. facing trial than he is abroad.
The CCP has made no shortage of efforts to deport Guo back to China to face certain imprisonment or death. High-profile individuals, such as casino magnate Steve Wynn and rapper Pras Michel are among those who have faced allegations of lobbying for China to get Guo deported.
Guo cannot flee to another country because China has issued Interpol notices on him, and he’d be arrested if he traveled anywhere outside the U.S. It’s for this reason that Guo has not traveled outside the United States once in the five years since claiming asylum here in September 2017.
Guo also is being denied the right to counsel in the sixth amendment, which is impairing his ability to provide a defense. The Warden of MDC Brooklyn placed it on definite lockdown on March 24, 2023, and inmates are only given 20 minutes out of their cell, and they face restricted access to the internet and communication with the outside world.
Guo’s legal counsel has had trouble communicating with him as a result. When they’re allowed to visit him, their attorney-client privileged communications are to be in a large open room with other inmates and prison staff, which is not acceptable. This further impairs his case, and if the past is any indication of the present, none of this is by accident.
That Guo hasn’t been granted bail the day of his arrest is a scandal in and of itself – and he’s not the only one. Guo’s close ally and supporter Yvette Wang was arrested on the same day as him – and given a sort of “bail in name only” where she was given a $5 million bond with a set of Kafkaesque conditions that are logically impossible to fulfill.
Guo, like any other individual accused of a crime, has the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty and to be granted bail, and there is no legal precedent to deny it. Denying him bail would not only be a violation of his rights but would also set a dangerous new precedent for the U.S. justice system, revealing a clear double standard where politics takes precedence over the law. Given the web of shadowy CCP actors that have impacted the process so far, any attempt to manipulate or infiltrate the U.S. justice system by a foreign power must be exposed and prevented, to ensure that justice is served fairly and equally for all.
Guo’s offer couldn’t have been any more reasonable. In fact, it’s so generous that if it’s denied, there’s only one explanation possible for it: the CCP’s corrupting influence.
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