Feds question source of funds for media company tied to Guo Wengui
The FBI is examining exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui and the money used to fund his media efforts in the U.S., including his work with Steve Bannon, a former senior adviser to President Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.
Federal Bureau of Investigation national security agents in recent months have asked people who know both men for information on Mr. Guo’s activities, including the source of funds of a media company linked to him that hired Mr. Bannon in 2018 as a consultant, the people said.
The Wall Street Journal couldn’t determine the source of funds used to pay Mr. Bannon. But Mr. Guo has in the past used what appeared to be a third party to provide funds to a contractor. He said in a court filing that a Hong Kong company, ACA Capital, paid a $1 million deposit on separate work he commissioned from a research firm, Virginia-based Strategic Vision. At the time of the payment in January 2018, ACA Capital was owned by a man named William Je, Hong Kong corporate records show.
Mr. Bannon entered into a $1 million contract with Guo Media, which is owned by a Delaware entity, in 2018 for “strategic consulting services,” which included “introducing the Company to media personalities,” according to the contract, a copy of which was published by Axios.
Still, some have raised doubts about Mr. Guo’s loyalties. Mr. Guo hired Strategic Vision in 2018 to investigate certain people he said were tied to top officials of the Chinese Communist Party, according to court filings.
The FBI viewed Mr. Guo as a potential informant for the agency and tried unsuccessfully to cultivate him as one around 2017, according to people familiar with his recruitment. The FBI at that time also confronted Chinese agents who had allegedly come to the U.S. to force Mr. Guo to return to China and ordered them to leave the country, the Journal previously reported.