Thread by @karolcummins

Tony Blair linked to China's most wanted, Mar-a-Lago member Guo Wengui smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌The story about Flamboyant Chinese tycoon & Mar-A-Largo member Guo Wengui has many odd twists & turns.

In addition to being a friend of former PM Tony Blair, add in efforts to extradite him by rapper Pras Michel, Elliot Broidy & connex w/ #1MDB scandal.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌Background: Mr Guo, also known as Miles Kwok, paid for Mr Blair to fly with him on a private jet to meet Abu Dhabi's royal family, successfully raising billions of dollars to fund Mr Guo's Chinese deals in 2013, it has been claimed.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌Mr Blair and Mr Guo had been in contact up until last month's issuance of the Interpol red notice.

📌Mr Blair's office confirmed he had been a friend of Mr Guo for 10 years and that Mr Guo had donated to Mr Blair's charities.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌Mr Guo fled China in 2014, after a business deal turned sour, and it was claimed he had used a sex tape to topple Beijing's former deputy mayor.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌Mr. Guo made international headlines by giving sensational interviews online in which he hurled accusations at senior figures in the Chinese Communist Party.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌It was revealed that Mr Guo was a member of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort just weeks before the club was the venue for Mr Trump's first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mr Guo is wanted by the Chinese government for allegedly paying a 60 million yuan ($11.5 million) bribe to former Chinese state security vice-minister Ma Jian
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌In addition, Guo has been accused of sexual assault by a former assistant and charged in China with corruption and other crimes, but his advocates argue that these are phony allegations ginned up to discredit him.
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

The story gets even weirder...

Pras Michel argues Guo pays FBI agents “lavishly” to protect him. Likening it to the ‘Scandal’ storyline abt how the B613 secret spy agency actually controls & runs the gov’t—rather than elected officials like the President?”“Perhaps it’s not so far off.”
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌Why is a celebrity entertainer Pras Michel pushing wild conspiracy theories to help the Chinese regime?
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌The Justice Department filled in aspects of a strange and complex saga involving the rapper Pras Michel, a fugitive Malaysian businessman known as Jho Low, and disgraced Republican fundraiser Elliott Broidy, & Mr. Guo
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌📌US prosecutors allege that Michel pushed for Guo’s extradition as part of an international scheme tied to a massive money laundering effort by corrupt Malaysian officials re #1MDB scandal.
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌📌The filing sought the forfeiture of more than $73 million they allege Michel helped Low fraudulently funnel into American bank accounts to pay influential political figures, including Broidy, to lobby the US government.
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1079142045908791297?s=21

Mr. Broidy also explored separate plans to force the exit from the United States, Guo Wengui, evidently to please Chinese allies in Malaysia while reaping payoffs from both the Chinese and, the United Arab Emirates
nytimes.com/2018/04/19/wor…

📌The results of Mr. Broidy’s efforts on Mr. Guo’s case are unclear. China has charged Mr. Guo with corruption, but he remains in New York, where he has become an outspoken critic of Chinese government self-dealing and is seeking asylum.
nytimes.com/2018/04/19/wor…

📌The initial goal of Broidy’s lobbying effort was to shut down a DOJ probe into more than $700M in funds allegedly stolen from a state development fund known as 1MDB & laundered through the US by associates of Malaysia’s then-Prime Minister Najib Razak
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌The effort to expel Guo allegedly arose as an offshoot of that lobbying push. Prosecutors don’t explain why the Malaysians would care about Guo, though China has bailed out the troubled Malaysian fund, reputedly gaining sway over Malaysian policy.
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌Broidy appears to face a federal investigation into whether he engaged in unregistered lobbying.

📌Michel, though not charged with a crime, is labeled a co-conspirator in the Justice Department case and his assets have been frozen. 
motherjones.com/politics/2018/…

📌Mr. Guo is wanted by the Chinese government for allegedly paying a 60 million yuan ($11.5 million) bribe to former Chinese state security vice-minister Ma Jian.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

📌China's fallen spy chief Ma confessed to his dealings with Mr Guo in a video that was mysteriously circulated on the internet within hours of the Interpol red notice being issued.
smh.com.au/world/tony-bla…

In December a court in China sentenced former Chinese state security vice-minister Ma Jian to life in prison, three years after the controversial former vice minister for state security came under investigation for corruption.
caixinglobal.com/2018-12-28/ex-…

📌Just when I thought this story couldn’t get any weirder, I am gonna add in Bannon & Roger Stone for kicks & giggles.

📌Oh, and also add HNA Group, Deutsche Bank (Trump/Kushner), CITIC Group (Erik Prince) & Sam Nunberg....

📌Just months after being pushed out of the White House, Stephen K. Bannon, President Trump’s former chief strategist, met with a fugitive Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui at a suite in the luxurious Hays-Adams Hotel in Washington.
scmp.com/news/china/art…

Since their first discussion in October 2017, Bannon & Guo have met dozens of times — in Dallas, on Mr. Guo’s yacht and, more often, at the billionaire’s $67.5 million apartment in the Sherry-Netherland Hotel, overlooking New York’s Central Park.
scmp.com/news/china/art…

📌The two shared a stage ago in Manhattan, at a news conference they organized to announce plans to set up a $100 million fund to investigate corruption and aid people they deem victims of Chinese government persecution.
scmp.com/news/china/art…

“We both naturally despise the Chinese Communist Party,” Mr. Guo said in an interview last week, referring to Mr. Bannon. “That’s why we’ve become partners.”

nytimes.com/2018/12/04/bus…

📌Bannon said he partnered with Guo to draw attention to the disappearance of high-profile investors in China and the country’s growing overseas investments.

#SureJan🙄
nytimes.com/2018/12/04/bus…

The much-discussed shock death earlier this year of Wang Jian, the former chairman of Chinese conglomerate HNA Group, was not an accident, according to a fugitive Chinese tycoon known for making allegations about corruption in China. #HNAGroup
scmp.com/news/china/art…

📌Wang, 57, died on July 3, 2018 during a trip to the village of Bonnieux in the Provence region of France.

Law enforcement officials there concluded that “he fell off a wall” and have ruled out foul play.🙄
scmp.com/news/china/art…

📌It’s an unusual partnership between two political gadflies with a common, if overly grand, objective: bringing about the demise of the Chinese Communist Party or is there more to the story?🤔

I vote more to the story...
scmp.com/news/china/art…

📌Why is the late Mr. Wang Jian important to the story?👇🏼

📌Mr Wang Jian was executing all the financing activities for HNA Group and knew all the secrets and the persons and the related beneficial interests behind the scenes,” Guo said.
scmp.com/news/china/art…

📌Who is Deutsche Bank’s largest shareholder?

📌China’s HNA Group.

📌Imagine that!
ft.com/content/a23eec…

Deutsche Bank ♥️ Trump

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1108143652725907456?s=21

$5M to $25M is credit line that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner and his mother, Seryl, reportedly have with Deutsche.

📌In December, federal prosecutors subpoenaed the bank for its records on their firm, Kushner Companies, a regular Deutsche borrower.
therealdeal.com/issues_article…

📌Let’s add in Erik Prince’s boss CITIC Group:

📌”China's Sovereign Wealth Fund AND Citic Group (major owners of Erik Prince's Frontier Services Group ) want to buy HNA's share of Deutsche Bank”
H/T @911corlebra777
wsj.com/articles/china…

📌HNA Group is one of China's largest private conglomerates and over the past few years it has been on a $40bn buying spree, snapping up businesses around the world, as well as building minority stakes in large listed companies like US hotel chain Hilton.
ft.com/content/a23eec…

📌This debt-fueled rise from a small regional Chinese airline to one of the country’s most prominent overseas deal-makers has left many observers asking several questions about a group whose true ownership is shrouded in mystery.

📌What actually is HNA?
ft.com/content/a23eec…

📌HNA is more a complex web of corporate entities, connex through overlapping interests in one another & inter-linking debt. The financing of these different groups has come under strain in recent months, b/c of official crackdowns on risky financing 💰💦?
ft.com/content/a23eec…

📌Currently: Deutsche Bank AG’s top investor, HNA Group Co., continued to reduce its stake in the German lender as the debt-laden Chinese conglomerate prepares to exit one of its most high-profile purchases.
bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

📌Ah... the muddy waters are becoming clearer surrounding Blair, TeamTrumpPlayers, Mar-a-Lago, China, HNA Group, Deutsch Bank, 1MDB scandal & Mr. Guo.

📌Let’s add in one more “odd” puzzle piece: Alex Jones, Sam Nunberg, Roger Stone & Mr. Guo.

📌Roger Stone admitted that he used his platform on Infowars, the far-right conspiracy website founded by Alex Jones, to spread false information in another case involving Mr. Guo.
washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12…

📌To settle a lawsuit seeking $100 million in damages from Guo Wengui, Stone admitted that he “failed to do proper research” before falsely accusing Mr. Guo of violating U.S. election law by donating money to HRC campaign.

#Projection?🤔
washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12…

📌Stone also falsely accused Guo, who is also known as Miles Kwok, of funding a presidential run by Stephen K. Bannon and being convicted of financial crimes.
🙄🤣🙄
washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12…

📌In a statement sent to The Washington Post, Stone blamed the falsehoods on Sam Nunberg, a former Trump aide.

“I made the error of relying on the representations of Sam Nunberg in my report on this matter and for that I apologized,” Stone said
washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/12…

📌📌Remember Per the Steel Dossier Trump was allegedly thrilled the media focused on Russia so there was less scrutiny of Trump’s business deals with China.

https://twitter.com/karolcummins/status/1046123863573057536?s=21

Currently exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui is suing Soho China for $300M, imagine that!

He says developer's slander lawsuit against him cost loss of rental income, termination of construction projects & attorneys’ fees

Mobsters ♥️ Lawsuits. = 💰💦

2017: Fugitive tycoon Guo Wengui facing US$1.5 billion in new claims from Chinese firms
Guo’s US assets, including a Manhattan luxury apartment, are targeted in a complaint that will be filed in New York on behalf of 10 Chinese companies
scmp.com/news/china/pol…

📌Trump Decides Not to Deport Dissident Guo Wengui After Learning He’s a Mar-a-Lago Member

📌Once again, the president’s business ties have tangled the U.S.’s relationship with a crucial ally.

📌Mr. Guo appears to be a central character in TrumpWorld.

vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/t…

📌China’s Pursuit of Fugitive Businessman Guo Wengui Kicks Off Manhattan Caper Worthy of Spy Thriller

📌Pressure from Beijing officials seeking Mr. Guo’s return sparks frantic response from Trump administration—and Penn Station, JFK airport standoffs
wsj.com/amp/articles/c…

📌There’s More: Guo Wengui, dubbed the “Che Guevara of Chinese crony capitalism,” a cohort of Chinese officials who infiltrated Trump’s New York penthouse using a fluffed set of visas and a letter from the Chinese government.
vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/t…

📌The letter was hand-delivered to the Trump by Republican National Committee finance chairman Steve Wynn, a casino tycoon with links to the Chinese-controlled gambling haven Macau. ORLY?

📌Macau Casinos, oh my!
vanityfair.com/news/2017/10/t…

I am sure there is much more to this story, but I will leave it here for now.

@threadreaderapp unroll p & ty.

WenguiGuo
MilesKwok
Trump
Kushner
Blair
Broidy
Higgenbotham
Michel
Bannon
Stone
AlexJones
Wynn
RNC
1MDB
HNA
Prince
CITIC
China
Deutsche
Mar-a-Lago

https://twitter.com/russellsieg/status/1113513330382184450?s=21

Why would a billionaire spend his money on 5,000 copies of Cherie Blair’s autobiography?

That is precisely what Chinese property tycoon Miles Kwok aka Wengui Guo has done, prompting bemusement in political and literary circles in Britain.

#TonyBlair
dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1…

https://twitter.com/msmariat/status/1113501798570950656?s=21

📌2016: A complaint was filed with the FEC alleging that KY political operative Jesse Benton (🐢& Rohrbacher’s Campaign mgr) illegally tried to funnel $2 million from a Chinese donor to a Super PAC supporting GOP nominee Trump.

H/T @MsMariaT
kentucky.com/news/politics-…

📌Benton proposed routing the $2M through his firm, Titan Strategies, and then through a pair of nonprofit political groups referred to as 501(c)(4)s, at least one of which — Vision for America — was run by another Trump operative, Eric Beach.
kentucky.com/news/politics-…

📌Benton told the reporters, the money would go to Great America PAC, which independently supports Trump in the Nov. 8 election, according to The Telegraph. Beach is co-chairman of Great America PAC.
kentucky.com/news/politics-…

📌Federal law prohibits foreign donations in election campaigns.

📌Moving a foreign donation through other groups before it’s spent on electioneering doesn’t make it legal,

kentucky.com/news/politics-…

“The reality of it is, that’s money laundering,” Noble said. “If it’s illegal for a foreign donor to give money to this PAC, then it’s equally illegal to run it through a for-profit business and a 501(c)(4) and then give it to the PAC.”

kentucky.com/news/politics-…