Chinese exile once linked to Trump strategist gets 30-year sentence in $1 billion fraud
The businessman known as Miles Guo, who pushed the fraudulent H-Coin project and had close ties to Steve Bannon, was finally sentenced after his 2024 conviction.
By Jesse Hamilton|Edited by Nikhilesh De
Jun 30, 2026, 4:31 p.m.
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Summary
A U.S. judge sentenced Chinese businessman Miles Guo, the billionaire behind the fraudulent crypto venture Himalaya Coin, to 30 years in prison, long after a trial jury found the well-connected defendant was guilty of several 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 of President Donald Trump who has had his own legal entanglements. In 2021, Guo had pushed his fraudulent crypto token, known as H-Coin, telling prospective buyers that it was 20% backed by gold and that the operation would cover 100% of investment losses.
He was said to pull in $500 million in investments, which was just one element of what U.S. authorities called “interrelated fraud schemes” perpetrated over five years, leading to his conviction on counts including racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
“Miles Guo led a massive scheme to steal more than $1 billion through lies and deception from thousands of Americans and victims around the world,” said Deputy U.S. Attorney Sean Buckley, in a statement. “After immigrating to this country, rather than being satisfied with the many legitimate opportunities afforded to him, Guo exploited the trust that thousands had placed in him for his own greed.”
Guo, who ran GTV Media Group and was arrested in 2023, had been ordered to give up almost $900 million in proceeds, his ownership of a New Jersey mansion and a number of luxury cars, including a Rolls Royce Phantom and a Bugatti.
Former top Trump aide Bannon had been arrested on a 150-foot yacht owned by Guo in 2020 when he was federally charged in a fraudulent fundraising case that Trump wiped away with a pardon in 2021. He was pursued again at the state level and pleaded guilty in 2025, but he avoided a prison sentence.
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