The Mysterious Exiled Chinese Billionaire “Whistleblower”
By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team
The New York Times reports on exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui who pitches himself as an insider into the alleged corrupt dealings of high-ranking members of the Chinese Communist Party. However, even with his purported inside information, details on the life or credibility of the billionaire property developer remain elusive. For his part, Guo claims that he has the highest integrity in his business dealings; however, when he left China in 2014 it was under the shadow of potential corruption charges. Guo claims that the charges against him were fabricated by enemies within the Chinese government.
Guo made claims against Wang Qishan, the head of anti-corruption efforts in China, and Meng Jianzhu, the secretary of the Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission that also plays a large role in China’s anti-corruption efforts. The allegations involved corrupt business dealings and personal unfaithfulness by the officials. According to Guo, the Chinese government reacted harshly by issuing charges of corruption, bribery and rape against Guo, detaining two of his former employees, and more. After initially making his accusation public through the news media, Guo turned to social media as a platform. He made videos on YouTube and shared allegations on Twitter.
Guo’s accusations have divided opinion among the western media, Chinese exiles, and democracy activists due to the inability to definitively prove any of the allegations. Some academics believe that the reaction from the Chinese Communist Party to Guo’s accusations has been so severe that they may believe Guo knows something.
For the moment, Guo’s brother was sentenced to over three years in prison for destroying accounting records, multiple defamation lawsuits have been filed against Guo in China, and Guo claims he has amassed $150 million to cover his legal expenses. It remains to be seen whether any of Guo’s claims can be corroborated in the future. If proven true, Guo could be seen as one of the most important whistleblowers coming out of China in recent memory.