Reported by Joseph Menn

An exiled Chinese tycoon indicted in New York earlier this month in a billion-dollar fraud case controls the conservative social media platform Gettr and used it to promote cryptocurrencies and propaganda, former employees have told The Washington Post.

They said the arrested expatriate, Guo Wengui, and his longtime money manager, William Je, called the shots at the company while Donald Trump senior adviser Jason Miller was its chief executive and public face. Miller served in that capacity from before Gettr’s July 4, 2021, launch until this month, when he returned to work on his third Trump presidential campaign.

According to the recent indictment and the Securities and Exchange Commission, Guo duped thousands of his followers into investing in private stock sales of his companies or cryptocurrencies, then spent much of the money on himself, including $40 million on a New Jersey mansion, nearly $1 million on rugs and $53,000 on a fireplace log holder. Though the filings focus on Guo’s other networks, Guo also promoted digital currencies via Twitter and live streams on Gettr.

Federal agents seized more than $300 million in bank accounts marked Hamilton Opportunity Fund or Hamilton Opportunity Funds in a forfeiture proceeding. They also took another $2.7 million from an account marked Gettr USA, without saying who controlled it, court documents show.

Read full report: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/26/gettr-guo-wengui-social-media/