US courts are investigating the involvement of Paulo Figueiredo’s International Treasure Group in a billion dollar fraud scheme.

Ads

US courts are investigating the involvement of Brazilian Paulo Figueiredo‘s International Treasure Group in a billion dollar fraud scheme led by Chinese tycoon Miles Guo, convicted of nine crimes, including money laundering and organized crime. He has been detained since March 2023. Guo was a collaborator and financier of Steve Bannon, Donald Trump‘s former strategist and ally of the Bolsonaro family. He is also identified as the controlling shareholder of the social media platform Gettr, which sponsored events supporting Jair Bolsonaro‘s reelection in 2022. Gettr’s former CEO, Jason Miller, is also close to Eduardo Bolsonaro.

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) indicates that Guo paid at least US$1 million to Bannon. In 2024, a Mother Jones report found that the money was earmarked for consulting services for the Chinese man’s network of media ventures and organizations, which included a group founded by him and Bannon to serve as a supposed parallel government to the Chinese Communist Party. Guo was accused of deceiving thousands of online followers into investing in businesses under his control and embezzling more than US$ 1 billion to fund his lavish lifestyle. Paulo Figueiredo received US$ 140,000, according to the DOJ.

The request for an investigation in the US courts alleges that the payment of US$ 140,000 to Figueiredo’s company, International Treasure Group, registered in Florida since 2017, was a fraudulent transfer. The information is contained in a lawsuit filed since February 2024 in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Connecticut (USA). The document indicates that the transfer was allegedly made by one of the Chinese man’s shell companies, HCHK Technologies Inc. “This transfer was, in fact, fraudulent because the debtor [Guo Wengui] made it as part of his ‘shell game’ and was done with the intent to hinder, delay, and/or defraud the debtor’s creditors,” the lawsuit states. The document does not specify the exact date or nature of the transaction, but according to court records, it occurred before February 15, 2022, when Guo filed for bankruptcy. The lawsuit does not allege any wrongdoing on the part of the recipient of the transfer, in this case, Figueiredo’s company.