NEW YORK – Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui has been charged with fraud of at least US$1 billion (S$1.35 billion) over a series of securities offerings.

Guo, also known as Miles Kwok, was charged in a 38-page indictment unsealed on Wednesday in Manhattan.

He and his financial adviser, Je Kin Ming, were charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. 

The indictment follows a lawsuit earlier in the day by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The offerings, starting in April 2020, allegedly raised “at least hundreds of millions of dollars” from investors in the United States and elsewhere, the regulator said in its suit. 

Guo, a Chinese businessman living in exile in the US, and Je, also known as William Je, misappropriated a large share of the funds to enrich themselves and their families, according to the SEC’s lawsuit.

Guo was behind three unregistered securities offerings for GTV Media Group and another to buy a crypto security called H-Coin that he falsely said was backed by gold reserves, according to the complaint.

Guo, who is an associate of Steve Bannon, has been a vocal critic of the Communist Party of China.

Fearing retribution from the regime, he sought political asylum in the US in 2017. 

A lawyer who represents Guo in other cases did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment on the suit. 

Bannon was one of the chief strategists behind Mr Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 US presidential election.

He was on board Guo’s yacht in 2020 when he was arrested for fraud in connection with We Build The Wall, a non-profit group that took in private donations to build a wall on the US-Mexico border.

Mr Trump later pardoned his ally on the federal charges before leaving office. 

Bannon still faces related charges in New York state court. He has pleaded not guilty. BLOOMBERG