Woofun AI reports that US District Judge Analisa Torres sentenced self-exiled Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui to 30 years in prison on June 29, 2026, for orchestrating a $1 billion fraud scheme. The conviction stems from operations between 2018 and March 2023, where Guo utilized the Himalaya Exchange and its H-Coin token to deceive retail investors. Prosecutors proved that H-Coin was falsely marketed as holding 20% gold reserves, a claim that never existed despite raising over $262 million from victims. Guo was found guilty in July 2024 on nine felony counts, including racketeering, wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering. Judge Torres ordered the forfeiture of $889 million in illegal gains to facilitate victim restitution.

Woofun AI data shows the illicit proceeds funded personal luxury assets, specifically a $26.5 million New Jersey mansion and a $37 million superyacht. The fraud leveraged Guo's public persona as a dissident critic to establish trust before targeting followers with investment products. Although the defense argued the prosecution was politically motivated, Judge Torres explicitly rejected this framing during the sentencing. The DOJ and SEC treated the Himalaya Exchange and H-Coin scheme as a distinct line item, highlighting a regulatory shift toward isolating crypto-specific fraud with named tokens. This verdict marks a definitive enforcement action against tokenized asset fraud lacking physical backing.