{"id":"court_sdny_643_1","court":"SDNY","case_no":"23-cr-00118","doc_number":643,"sub_number":1,"doc_type":"ORDER","filed_date":null,"title":"IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Complainant","summary_zh":"法院命令（关于修改第三方请愿程序和保密提交） —— 美国诉 Ho Wan Kwok、Kin Ming Je、Yanping Wang 案，SDNY 1:23-cr-00118 ECF #643。法院关于 Himalaya Exchange 投资者请愿程序的命令，由律师 Bradford L. Geyer 代表已认证成员提出申请；命令设定索赔截止日期为 2025 年 5 月 15 日，允许索赔人在保密条件下提交请愿和支持文件，要求政府就没收的资金和物品提供说明和分配计划，并规定了商业记录可信度相关条款。","summary_en":"Order on Consolidated Motions to Modify Process for Claims and File Under Seal — United States v. Ho Wan Kwok, Kin Ming Je, Yanping Wang, SDNY 1:23-cr-00118 ECF #643. Court order addressing petitions from Himalaya Exchange investors represented by counsel Bradford L. Geyer; establishes May 15, 2025 deadline for claims, permits petitions and supporting documents to be filed under seal to protect personal and financial data of victims, requires government to provide accounting of seized funds and tangible items and a distribution plan, and allows claimants to rely on exchange business records as evidence.","body_en":"# **IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK**\n\n### **UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Complainant**\n\n **-v-**\n\n**HO WAN KWOK, a/k/a \"Miles Guo,\" \"Miles Kwok,\" \"Guo Wengui,\" \"Brother Seven,\" or \"The Principal,\"**\n\n **and**\n\n**KIN MING JE, a/k/a \"William Je,\"**\n\n **and**\n\n**YANPING WANG, a/k/a \"Yvette,\"**\n\n **Defendants.**\n\nCriminal No.: 23-cr-118 (AT)\n\n**ORDER**\n\nAssigned to the Honorable U.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres, Presiding Judge\n\n### **[PROPOSED] ORDER ON CONSOLIDATED MOTIONS TO MODIFY PROCESS FOR PETITIONS FOR CLAIMS AND TO FILE UNDER SEAL FINANCIAL AND PERSONAL DATA OF FINANCIAL VICTIMS**\n\nINVESTORS IN THE HIMALAYA EXCHANGE as represented by Counsel Bradford L. Geyer CAME BEFORE THE COURT on their consolidated motions to (1) modify the process for petitions for claims for return of seized property and funds, and (2) file personal and financial information under seal in support of their petitions to recover money seized by the U.S. Government associated with the criminal prosecution of the U.S. Attorney's Office (USAO) of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) against the Defendants named herein.\n\nWHEREAS, petitions for recovery of individuals' funds or property may be due as early as April 7, 2025, as measured by forfeiture filings made after the sentencing of Yvette Wang under a plea of guilty; and\n\nWHEREAS, counsel Geyer represents approximately 6,537 individual clients as Members and investors in the Himalaya Exchange, some of whom also made separate investments in other entities related to the inspiration of Michael Guo (Kwok); and\n\nWHEREAS, counsel Geyer notes that he is unaware of any reason distinguishing his clients from any other Himalaya Exchange claimants who also wish to file their petitions and/or supporting information under seal; and\n\nWHEREAS, governing statutes call upon claimants to identify themselves, the nature of their claim, the amount of their claim, and why their claim in funds or property is superior to any claim of the Government or other parties; and\n\nWHEREAS, the Court has previously demonstrated its willingness to modify statutory requirements in response to the Government's Motion at ECF10 on March 20, 2023 when both sensible and reasonable and in the interests of justice.\n\nNOW THEREFORE, upon review of the pleadings, representations of the United States of America (\"Government\") and the criminal Defendants and the individuals who claim that their investments were seized by the Government, the court file, the pleadings, and relevant precedents, it is hereby ORDERED and ADJUDGED for the purposes of processing of the seized funds, as follows:\n\n## **I. FILING DEADLINE AND PROCESS**\n\n- 1. Any uncertainty about the due date is hereby resolved by amending the deadline so that claims may be filed as late as **May 15, 2025**, by or for any and all persons claiming an interest in the funds seized by the U.S. Government in connection with the criminal prosecution herein. Any petitions or claims relating to the return or recovery of funds related to this prosecution shall be timely if filed by May 15, 2025.\n- 2. As there does not appear to be any reason to craft a different process or date for Geyer's clients as opposed to any or all claimants of the various business entities asserted to be\n\ninvolved, the same deadline and provisions of this Order shall apply to any claimant seeking funds out of those seized by the Government.\n\n- 3. Claimants shall file their claims with the Court in this case by paper mail or by electronic filing if registered for electronic filing. The USAO shall, within 7 days of this Order, designate by notice published on the Court's docket where claims should be sent to be noticed by the staff involved.\n- 4. The Court may subsequently consider whether the process and deadline shall run from the sentencing of Yvette Wang or be triggered later upon the sentencing of Ho Wan Kwok (Miles Guo) if additional clarification is provided by the Government as to what seized funds are at issue, why, and therefore whether as Geyer's clients argue Wang had no interest in the seized funds at issue so as to trigger forfeiture, remission, or ancillary proceedings processes by her sentencing.\n\n#### **II. CONFIDENTIALITY PROVISIONS**\n\n- 5. Any and all persons claiming an interest in the funds seized by the U.S. Government in connection with the criminal prosecution herein may, if they wish, file their petitions and/or supporting information under seal. That is, they may file a petition not under seal with attachment(s) under seal or they may file the petition plus attachments all under seal.\n- 6. Counsel for multiple Himalaya Exchange claimants, including Geyer representing approximately 6,537clients, may file one single, umbrella claim for all clients supported by attachments under seal of the individual identities and amounts of funds lost identified by unique HID# with compliance and KYC information stored in encrypted for by the Himalaya Exchange. Counsel need not file separate petitions for each separate client, but\n\nshall provide information for each of them as independent claimants in a format such as a spreadsheet identified by their unique Himalaya Exchange Identification Number (HID#).\n\n- 7. Any document which is marked \"FILED UNDER SEAL\" shall be under seal. The Clerk of Court shall assist in filing sealed documents under seal. Claimants are advised that for electronic filing there is a separate category on the Court's website for filing documents under seal.\n- 8. The Court reminds all interested persons or parties that filing under seal means that a copy must be provided to the U.S. Government or designated department, but the information is not publicly visible or available in the Court's case file and must be treated confidentially by all recipients including the Government.\n- 9. Any supporting documents or information should be clear as to which claimant or petition they are related to so that they can be properly considered.\n\n#### **III. GOVERNMENT DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS**\n\n10. For the aid of claimants and of the District Court or its delegates processing the funds, for the different purpose of analyzing the distribution of seized funds, of the roughly 80 business entities which were originally of interest to the Government, the Government shall identify within 14 days of this Order: a) Which business entities the Government *actually* ended up seizing funds from, using the correct precise legal name of the entities, as compared to those entities the Government was originally investigating; b) The amount seized from each such entity; c) Approximate date(s) of the seizure(s); d) Whether the Government is holding funds under a theory of the proceeds of crime being co-mingled with the entity's legitimate funds (i.e., the investors' investments); e) Whether\n\nthe Government contends that any crime was committed using any particular entity; f) Any information that would inform the analysis about how much of the money seized the Government asserts to be funds improperly obtained by the criminal Defendants and under what legal category for forfeiture, so that that can be analyzed separately; g) Any disclosures regarding whether, in hindsight, there was no reason to seize any funds from a particular entity; and h) The basis upon which the Government contends certain transactions were improper, including specific criteria for what constitutes improper loans, compensation, or disbursements.\n\n- 11. The Government shall propose a method of confidentiality including a proposed protective order concerning any other criminal defendants. That is, if there are persons other than Kwok, Je, and Wang that would affect the analysis of what to do with the seized funds, they should be identified. However, public disclosure may not be desirable.\n- 12. The Court recognizes that the tangible items seized from the ownership, title, or possession of Defendants — possibly not seized from any of the 80 business entities could have their potential sale price at auction influenced by public discussion. If the Government were to assign an expected sale price, few would bid at auction any more. Nevertheless, the Government shall consider and report a method and timeline for converting into cash the tangible items for the obvious goal of receiving the highest prices. Or the Government might complete the sales of those tangible items first and report the results before beginning with the distribution of funds.\n- 13. The Government shall respond to these requirements no later than **April 15, 2025**.\n\n#### **IV. BUSINESS RECORDS AND RELIANCE**\n\n- 15. Claimants may rely upon the business records of the Himalaya Exchange as admissible business records. The Membership and Member activity records of HEX maintained in the regular course of business are recognized as self-authenticating and admissible under the Federal Rules of Evidence, to the extent they can be produced.\n- 16. The Court acknowledges that the U.S. Government's seizure and shutdown of HEX's website and on-line operations may have impacted access to business records that would otherwise be available to claimants. The Government shall, to the extent possible, facilitate reasonable access to such records for purposes of substantiating claims.\n- 17. In the event the Government's forfeiture survives jurisdictional challenges and HEX claims for ancillary petition fails, the Government and HEX are hereby instructed to devise an information sharing plan to where the Government can access HEX encrypted data in a secure, compartmentalized facility (SCIF) and where HID#'s can be matched with individuals through HEX's compliance and \"Know Your Customer\" (KYC) system,\n\nThis Order addresses both the modification of the claims process and the filing of financial and personal data under seal that may impact ancillary petitions and/or remission claims. The Court expects all parties to comply with both the letter and spirit of this Order to ensure an efficient and fair process for the resolution of claims.\n\n\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\\_\n\n#### **SO ORDERED.**\n\n#### **ENTERED THIS \\_\\_\\_\\_ DAY OF APRIL, 2025**\n\nU.S. District Court Judge Analisa Torres","body_zh":"美国纽约南区联邦地区法院（United States District Court for the Southern District of New York）\n\n美利坚合众国，申诉人\n\n诉\n\nHO WAN KWOK（郭文贵），又名“Miles Guo”、“Miles Kwok”、“Guo Wengui”、“七哥”或“主事人”，\n\n以及\n\nKIN MING JE（余建明），又名“William Je”，\n\n以及\n\nYANPING WANG（王雁平），又名“Yvette”，\n\n被告人等。\n\n刑事案号：23-cr-118 (AT)\n\n裁定\n\n分配予：主审法官、美国联邦地区法院法官 Analisa Torres（阿娜丽莎·托雷斯）阁下\n\n关于修改权利主张申请程序及将受害人财务与个人数据作封存提交的合并动议的［拟定］裁定\n\n由 Bradford L. Geyer（布拉德福德·L·盖尔）律师代理的喜马拉雅交易所（Himalaya Exchange）投资者就其合并动议向法庭提出申请，请求：(1) 修改就返还被扣押财产和资金提出权利主张申请的程序；(2) 在寻求追回美国政府因纽约南区联邦检察官办公室（United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York，简称 SDNY USAO）针对本案所列被告人提起刑事起诉而扣押的款项时，准予将支持其申请的个人及财务信息作封存提交。\n\n鉴于，以在 Yvette Wang（王雁平）认罪答辩后量刑所作的没收法律文书计算，个人追回资金或财产的申请最早可能于 2025年4月7日 到期；并且\n\n鉴于，盖尔律师代理约 6,537 名作为喜马拉雅交易所会员及投资者的个人客户，其中部分人员亦对受 Michael Guo (Kwok)（郭文贵）感召而设立的其他实体进行了单独投资；并且\n\n鉴于，盖尔律师指出，他并不知晓存在任何理由将其客户与同样希望将其申请及/或支持性信息作封存提交的任何其他喜马拉雅交易所权利主张人区分开来；并且\n\n鉴于，管辖成文法要求权利主张人表明自身身份、其主张的性质、其主张的金额，以及为何其对资金或财产的权利主张优于政府或其他各方的任何主张；并且\n\n鉴于，本法院此前已在合理、恰当且符合司法利益的情况下，在 2023年3月20日 针对政府在 ECF10 的动议表明了愿意调整成文法要求的立场。\n\n因此，在审阅了诉答文书、美利坚合众国（以下简称“政府”）、刑事被告人以及主张其投资款被政府扣押的个人的陈述、法院卷宗、诉答书状及相关判例后，为处理被扣押资金之目的，特此裁定并判定如下：\n\n一、提交期限及程序\n\n1. 任何关于到期日的不确定性特此通过修改截止日期予以解决，以便主张对美国政府因本刑事起诉而扣押的资金享有权益的任何及所有人员，最迟可于 2025年5月15日 由本人或代其提交权利主张。与本起诉相关的资金返还或追回有关的任何申请或权利主张，凡在 2025年5月15日 之前提交的，均视为及时提交。\n\n2. 鉴于目前看来没有任何理由为盖尔的客户制定有别于所涉及的各个商业实体的任何或所有权利主张人的程序或日期，本裁定的相同截止日期和各项规定应适用于任何寻求从政府扣押的款项中获得资金的权利主张人。\n\n3. 权利主张人应通过纸质邮寄方式，或若已注册电子归档系统则通过电子提交方式，在本案中向法院提交其权利主张。联邦检察官办公室应在本裁定作出后 7 日内，通过在法院案件卷宗上公布通知的方式，指定权利主张应送达何处以供相关经办人员查阅。\n\n4. 如果政府就哪些被扣押资金存在争议、原因何在，以及是否如盖尔的客户所主张的那样，王雁平对涉案被扣押资金不享有任何权益，以至于其量刑不能触发没收、减免或附随程序等问题提供进一步澄清，本法院随后可考虑该程序及截止日期应自王雁平量刑之日起算，还是随后在郭文贵量刑时触发。\n\n二、保密条款\n\n5. 主张对美国政府因本刑事起诉而扣押的资金享有权益的任何及所有人员，如其愿意，可将其申请及/或支持性信息作封存提交。即，他们可以提交非封存的申请并附带封存的附件，也可以将申请连同附件一并作封存提交。\n\n6. 代表多名喜马拉雅交易所权利主张人的律师（包括代表约 6,537 名客户的盖尔），可为所有客户提交一份单一的统括性权利主张，并附上通过唯一 HID#（喜马拉雅交易所识别码）识别的个人身份和损失资金数额的封存附件，以及由喜马拉雅交易所加密存储的合规与 KYC（了解你的客户）信息。律师无需为每位单独客户提交独立的申请，但应以电子表格等格式，通过每位客户唯一的喜马拉雅交易所识别码（HID#），提供其作为独立权利主张人的信息。\n\n7. 任何标有“FILED UNDER SEAL”（封存提交）字样的文件均应予以封存。法院书记官应协助将封存文件作封存归档。特此告知权利主张人，在电子归档系统中，法院网站设有专门用于封存提交文件的独立类别。\n\n8. 本法院提醒所有利害关系人或当事方，封存提交意味着必须向美国政府或指定部门提供一份副本，但该信息不会在法院的案件卷宗中向公众显示或公开，且包括政府在内的所有接收方均须对此予以保密处理。\n\n9. 任何支持性文件或信息均应明确其所关联的权利主张人或申请，以便予以适当审酌。\n\n三、政府披露要求\n\n10. 为协助权利主张人以及处理资金的地区法院或其指派人员，并出于分析被扣押资金分配情况这一不同目的，在最初引起政府关注的约 80 个商业实体中，政府应在本裁定作出后 14 日内明确：a) 与政府最初调查的实体相比，政府实际最终扣押了哪些实体的资金（使用实体的准确法定名称）；b) 从每个此类实体扣押的金额；c) 扣押的大致日期；d) 政府是否基于犯罪收益与该实体的合法资金（即投资者的投资款）发生混同的法理而持有资金；e) 政府是否主张曾利用任何特定实体实施任何犯罪；f) 有助于分析在政府所扣押的款项中，政府主张有多少属于刑事被告人不当获取的资金以及归入何种没收法律类别的任何信息，以便对此进行单独分析；g) 关于事后看来是否有理由不对某一特定实体扣押任何资金的任何披露；以及 h) 政府主张某些交易属于不当交易的依据，包括构成不当贷款、报酬或支出的具体标准。\n\n11. 政府应就涉及任何其他刑事被告人的保密方法提出方案，包括拟定一份保护令。即，如果除郭文贵、余建明和王雁平之外还有其他人会影响对被扣押资金如何处置的分析，则应指明该等人员。然而，公开披露可能并不可取。\n\n12. 本法院认识到，从被告人所有权、产权或占有权中扣押的有形物品（可能并非从上述 80 个商业实体中的任何一个扣押），其在拍卖中的潜在售价可能会受到公众讨论的影响。若政府指定一个预期售价，可能就很少有人会在拍卖中继续竞价。尽管如此，政府仍应考虑并报告将有形物品变现的方法和时间表，以实现获得最高价格的明确目标。或者，政府可以先完成这些有形物品的出售并报告结果，然后再开始进行资金分配。\n\n13. 政府应不迟于 2025年4月15日 对上述要求作出回应。\n\n四、商业记录与采信\n\n15. 权利主张人可依赖喜马拉雅交易所的商业记录作为可采纳的商业记录。在能够出示的范围内，喜马拉雅交易所（HEX）在日常业务过程中保存的会员资格和会员活动记录，依据《联邦证据规则》（Federal Rules of Evidence）被确认为可自证真实且具有可采性。\n\n16. 本法院承认，美国政府对 HEX 网站及在线运营的扣押和关停，可能影响了权利主张人获取本可获得的商业记录。政府应在可能的最大范围内，为此类记录的合理获取提供便利，以便证实权利主张。\n\n17. 若政府的没收经受住了管辖权异议且 HEX 提出的附随申请失败，特此指示政府与 HEX 制定一项信息共享计划，使政府能够在敏感信息隔离设施（SCIF）中访问 HEX 的加密数据，并通过 HEX 的合规与“了解你的客户”（KYC）系统将 HID# 与个人进行匹配。\n\n本裁定既涉及对权利主张程序的修改，也涉及可能影响附随申请及/或减免主张的财务与个人数据的封存提交。本法院期望各方当事人恪守本裁定的条文与精神，以确保权利主张解决程序的公正高效。\n\n_________________________________\n\n特此裁定。\n\n于 2025年4月____日 签署记录\n\n美国联邦地区法院法官 Analisa Torres（阿娜丽莎·托雷斯）","key_entities":["Himalaya","Himalaya Exchange","Geyer","Kwok","Guo","forfeiture","Je","Miles Guo","Ho Wan Kwok","Torres","Analisa Torres","Yanping Wang","Kin Ming Je","William Je","CIPA"],"ecf_references":[{"doc_number":10,"court":"SDNY"}],"word_count":1615,"status":"published","published_at":null,"created_at":null,"updated_at":"2026-08-23 07:27:21"}