Conservative Media CFO: “I’m Guilty”

A conservative media brand that built trust by exposing corruption just had its own finance chief admit to laundering $67 million in crime money through its bank accounts.

Story Snapshot

Former Epoch Times chief financial officer Weidong “Bill” Guan pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to a money-laundering conspiracy tied to at least $67 million in proceeds of crime.
Prosecutors say his “Make Money Online” team turned fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits and other illicit funds into fake donations flowing through media company accounts.
Guan now admits it was a “tremendous lapse in judgment” and faces up to 10 years in prison plus forfeiture and restitution of tens of millions of dollars.
The case exposes how modern money laundering uses cryptocurrency, prepaid cards, and even trusted media brands as cover.

A courtroom plea that stopped a trial in its tracks

Weidong “Bill” Guan did not let his money laundering trial even get fully underway before changing course. Jury selection had just begun in Manhattan federal court when the former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times stood up and told the judge, through a translator, “I’m guilty.”

That simple phrase ended months of public denial and confirmed what federal prosecutors had laid out in a detailed case: a years-long conspiracy to move crime money through a conservative media brand’s bank accounts.

The former CFO of The Epoch Times, a conservative multinational media company, interrupted jury selection at his money laundering trial to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge in a $67 million fraud scheme. https://t.co/bthDeI2GZ9

— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 10, 2026

Guan, now in his early sixties, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in transactions involving criminal proceeds. This charge focuses on how money was handled, not just how it was received. In court, he called his conduct “a tremendous lapse in judgment” and said he was very sorry for his actions.

Prosecutors, however, describe something far more organized than a momentary mistake: a scheme that ran from 2020 through 2024, involving tens of thousands of transactions and sophisticated tools.

How crime money became “donations” to a media company

According to the Department of Justice, Guan managed a group inside the company called the “Make Money Online” team. Starting around 2020, this team allegedly used cryptocurrency to buy crime proceeds at a discount, including fraudulently obtained unemployment benefits loaded onto prepaid debit cards. Criminals wanted to turn stolen benefits into clean cash.

Guan’s team offered that service, taking the dirty money and pushing it into accounts controlled by the media company and related entities, then cycling it back as apparent support for the outlet.

Prosecutors say stolen personal information was used to open financial and cryptocurrency accounts, helping disguise the true owners of the funds. The money then moved through multiple layers: prepaid cards, bank accounts in the names of company entities, and Guan’s own accounts.

Federal officials describe “tens of thousands of layered transactions,” classic money-laundering behavior meant to obscure the trail and make illegal funds appear to be ordinary business revenue.

During the key years, reported company revenues jumped about 410 percent, from around $15 million to about $62 million, a surge prosecutors directly link to the laundering operation.

What Guan admitted to, and what happens next

By pleading guilty, Guan did more than say “I was involved.” He agreed to forfeit at least $67 million and pay restitution up to that same amount, tying his admission directly to the scale of the scheme. The conspiracy count he accepted carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

A federal judge will decide his punishment after reviewing the sentencing guidelines, the facts admitted in court, and his level of cooperation. Guan could also face immigration consequences once his sentence is complete, a reminder that financial crime rarely ends at the prison gate.

Weidong Guan, the former chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court to a conspiracy charge in a 67 million dollar money laundering scheme. Prosecutors say his team bought stolen crime proceeds, much of it fraudulent pandemic unemployment… pic.twitter.com/flNQyUhORP

— GrumpyChineseGuy (@neilzsg) July 12, 2026

The Epoch Times, for its part, has pushed a clear line: the outlet says it was never a party to the litigation and has portrayed the case as about one executive’s actions, not the institution itself.

A revenue spike of more than 400 percent tied to crime proceeds, plus internal teams buying stolen benefits with cryptocurrency, points to deep failures in oversight and ethics. Even if lawyers keep the company out of the criminal dock, the public still has every reason to expect serious housecleaning.

Why this case matters far beyond one media brand

Federal regulators have long warned that criminals look for respectable “fronts” to clean dirty money, from charities to cash-heavy businesses. This case shows how a media organization can become part of that toolkit.

By routing fraud proceeds through accounts linked to a trusted conservative outlet, launderers could dress up the proceeds as donations or advertising revenue, betting that banks and payment processors would hesitate to challenge a news brand that talks loudly about freedom and corruption. That tactic undermines both financial integrity and public trust.

The tools Guan’s team used are now common in global crime networks. Cryptocurrency provides speed and a sense of anonymity. Prepaid debit cards loaded with stolen benefits let crooks tap taxpayer-funded programs without ever meeting a bank teller.

Layered transfers split the flows into many small transactions that look harmless. For readers, the lesson is simple but sobering: even the outlets you follow for “the truth” can become part of the story when vigilance and values break down.

Strong internal controls, honest leadership, and tough regulators are not anti-business; they are the guardrails that keep capitalism from turning into a laundromat for thieves.