Who is Guo Wengui, man linked to accounts targeted by Singapore’s FICA

On Friday (19 July), Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced that five social media platforms — X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok — have been instructed to block 95 social media accounts linked to exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, preventing access to users in Singapore.

This action is based on concerns that these accounts might launch hostile information campaigns within the country.

This is the first time account restriction measures have been applied under the Foreign Interference (Countermeasures) Act (FICA) since its enactment in October 2021.

The blocked accounts had published posts alleging that Singapore is “in the pocket of a foreign actor” who was “behind the scenes in the selection of Singapore’s fourth-generation leader,” according to an MHA press release.

MHA noted that Between 17 April and 10 May this year, 92 accounts across five platforms published over 120 posts featuring videos on Singapore’s leadership transition.

MHA investigations revealed that these accounts are linked to Guo Wengui and his affiliated organisations, the New Federal State of China (NFSC) and the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation.

NFSC is a right-wing political and lobbying group founded by Guo and former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon. The Himalaya Supervisory Organisation, also started by Guo and Bannon, supports the NFSC.

These accounts primarily featured anti-CCP content. The main objective of the NFSC network is to drive traffic to Guo’s news sites, which then lead viewers to political content that is predominantly anti-CCP.

MHA noted that three of the accounts belong to a Singapore chapter of the Himalaya Supervisory Organisation, known as Himalaya Singapore.

“We had also noted that according to a study by Graphika in 2021, Guo Wengui is at the centre of a vast network of interrelated media entities and social media accounts that disseminate disinformation across multiple platforms,” said MHA.

The coordinated actions and past use of Singapore to further its agenda show that this network is both willing and capable of spreading false narratives detrimental to the country’s interests, the ministry added.

Notably, Guo Wengui was recently convicted on Tuesday (16 July) on nine of the twelve criminal counts he faced in the U.S., including charges of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from his online followers.

He faces the possibility of decades in prison, with U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres setting his sentencing date for 19 November.

Fled China in 2014 after discovering the Imminent arrest of close ally in Government

Guo, once a prominent real estate developer from China, sought asylum in the United States.

Originally from Shandong Province, he began investing in property in 1993 and built a substantial property empire. He fled China in 2014 after learning that a state security official he was close to was about to be arrested.

He moved to the U.S. in 2015 and, two years later, launched an aggressive online campaign to expose alleged corruption among China’s business and political elites.

In 2017, he was issued a “Red Notice” by Interpol.

In the U.S., Guo garnered a large following through a series of livestreaming events where he portrayed himself as an insider revealing scandals, some of which were allegedly fabricated, involving senior Chinese officials and elite businessmen.

In 2020, Guo and Steve Bannon launched NFSC, a right-wing movement to “overthrow China’s Communist Party (CCP).”

In a dramatic stunt, Guo chartered a fleet of propeller planes to fly banners over New York City announcing the formation of a “Federal State of New China.”

The duo then went on a boat in New York Harbour and appeared on a livestream to criticize the CCP.

In 2022, Guo filed for bankruptcy in a U.S. court, listing assets between US$50,001 and US$100,000 and liabilities ranging from US$100 million to US$500 million.

He was arrested in March of the previous year and has been in jail since. On Tuesday, he was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and wire fraud.