Fraud Case Against Rich Exile Who Riled Beijing Goes to Jury

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The fate of Guo Wengui, the exiled Chinese billionaire whose opposition to the Chinese Communist Party made him a darling of the American right, rests with a Manhattan jury after his fraud and money-laundering trial came to a close on Thursday. Mr. Guo is accused of running a criminal enterprise that defrauded investors of more than $1 billion through various schemes — club memberships, cryptocurrencies, a sale of private shares in his media company — and using the money to lead a lavish lifestyle. Federal prosecutors said the fraudulent proceeds helped pay for a mansion in New Jersey, a Lamborghini roadster and a $100 million investment in a hedge fund. They took five weeks to make their case, putting forth a parade of witnesses, including former employees and investors, and presenting bank records and invoices. “This was a scheme, this was a con, this was a fraud,” Ryan Finkel, a prosecutor, said in his three-hour closing argument on Wednesday. Mr. Guo, he said, “lied to take other people’s money.”