Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, the exiled businessman and vocal critic of Beijing with ties to former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon, was charged with fraud after the U.S. seized $634 million linked to his alleged crimes.
Arrested Wednesday at 6:24 a.m. by FBI agents at his luxury apartment in Manhattan’s Sherry-Netherland hotel, Guo was later brought before a judge over the alleged billion-dollar fraud.
But first, in a strange turn of events, a two-alarm fire broke out on the hotel’s 18th floor, where Guo — also known as Miles Kwok — lives. The New York Fire Department is investigating the blaze.