Guo Wengui’s Gettr Raises Red Flags About Social Media Platform
Guo Wengui, a Chinese exiled tycoon suspected of billion-dollar fraud, controls the conservative social media platform Gettr and uses it to promote cryptocurrencies and other discourses, according to The Washington Post. Gettr now has nearly 7.5 million users. It is an alternative to Twitter that emerged after the riots in the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 and the banning of Trump by major social media.
Arrested Guo Wengui and his longtime money manager William Je were calling the shots, while senior Trump adviser Jason Miller was Gettr’s chief executive and public face, former employees said . Miller holds the position until Gettr launches on July 4, 2021, and this month, before he will join President Trump’s campaign.
Gettr distributed tens of thousands of dollars to right-wing figures such as Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon, sent funds to contractors tied to Guo, and changed law enforcement, according to former employees and internal company documents. Gettr user information sought by institutions.
Miller previously said that Guo Wengui invested indirectly in Gettr through a family fund and that an international fund was another shareholder. But two former Gettr employees told The Washington Post that Miller told them the international fund was Hamilton Investment Management, which Yu founded and is chief executive of. Gettr executives, including Miller, did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
Guo Wengui became more visibly involved in Gettr affairs this year, when he began promoting the Gettr Coin, which Gettr users should use to reward other users. In a video posted on Twitter, Guo said he was selling the coins for 10 cents each early on and discussing them with Gettr’s chief technology officer, Ken Huang. A disclaimer on Gettr’s website says the coins have no value and cannot be used outside of the platform.
Yu’s spokesman, Richard Merrin, declined to answer questions about Gettr, saying only: “Mr. Yu was deeply disappointed to learn of the actions launched by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission last week. Mr. Yu vehemently denies all allegations in these actions.””
According to a recent indictment and the SEC, Guo Wengui duped thousands of followers into investing in his company’s private stock sales or cryptocurrencies, then spent most of the money on himself, including 40 million $ to buy a mansion in New Jersey, nearly $1 million for a rug and $53,000 for a log mantel for a fireplace. While the documents focus on Guo’s other networks, Guo also promoted digital currencies through live broadcasts on Twitter and Gettr. Federal agents seized more than $300 million in a bank account labeled Hamilton Investment Management in a forfeiture proceeding. They also took another $2.7 million from an account labeled Gettr USA, court documents show, without saying who controlled it.
