{"id":"court_sdny_802_0","court":"SDNY","case_no":"23-cr-00118","doc_number":802,"sub_number":0,"doc_type":"FORFEITURE","filed_date":"2026-02-10","title":"U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney","summary_zh":"检辩联合信函 —— 美国诉 Ho Wan Kwok 等人案（郭文贵 / Guo Wengui / Miles Guo），SDNY 23-CR-118 (AT) ECF #802（2026年2月10日立案）。检方与辩方就法院提议委任特别主事一事提交联合回应，双方一致认为由于缺乏经费来源（不得动用没收资产或司法部没收资产基金），委任私人特别主事不具可行性，建议法院将案卷中约134起及直接送交检方的约238起第853(n)条财产主张转交联邦助理法官（Magistrate Judge）进行审查并出具报告建议。","summary_en":"Joint Status Letter — United States v. Ho Wan Kwok et al. (Miles Guo / Guo Wengui), SDNY 23-CR-118 (AT), ECF No. 802 (filed February 10, 2026). The Government and defense submitted a joint response regarding the proposed appointment of a special master, agreeing that appointing a private special master is impracticable due to the lack of an available payment source and recommending that approximately 134 docketed and approximately 238 undocketed § 853(n) claims be referred to a Magistrate Judge for review and recommendations.","body_en":"U.S. Department of Justice\n\n                                                     United States Attorney\n                                                     Southern District of New York\n029S-NY-3269901_0\n000618_Import.docx                                   The Jacob K. Javits Federal Building\n                     \\                               26 Federal Plaza, 37th Floor\n                                                     New York, New York 10278\n\n                                                     February 10, 2026\n\nBY ECF\nHon. Analisa Torres\nDaniel Patrick Moynihan\nUnited States Courthouse\n500 Pearl St.\nNew York, NY 10007-1312\n\n    Re:     United States v. Miles Guo, S3 23 Cr. 118 (AT)\n\nDear Judge Torres:\n\n       The Government writes in response to the Court’s order during the January 20, 2026,\nconference regarding the potential appointment of a special master. The parties have conferred\nand respond to the Court’s questions as follows:\n\n    1. Payment for a Special Master. The Government and the defendant agree that it is not clear\n       what, if any, funds are available to pay a special master. 1 The parties agree that the funds\n       identified in the preliminary orders of forfeiture cannot be used for this purpose because,\n       absent resolution of all third-party claims and entry of a final order of forfeiture, those\n       assets cannot be used by the Government. Moreover, and in any event, the parties oppose\n       using forfeited assets to pay a special master, because doing so would reduce the amount\n       available to return to victims. 2,3\n\n1\n The defense proposed to use the Department of Justice Assets Forfeiture Fund (“AFF”) for this\npurpose. The Government conferred with components at Main Justice regarding that possibility,\nand confirmed that the AFF is not available to finance special masters in this context.\n2\n The defense position is: Having received numerous disclaimers of “victim” status by investors\nand customers in this case, the defense objects to the use of the word “victims” in this sentence\nand asserts that “claimants” should be used.\n3\n  In response to the Court’s question to the Government, the Government is aware of one case\nwhere a district court appointed an entity to act as a quasi-special master (to evaluate § 853(n)\nclaims) and claims administrator (an individual to manage the payment to entities with qualifying\npetitions). See United States v. Value of Certain E-Metal Accts., No. 11 Cv. 1530 (ELH), Dkt. 4\n(D. Md. July 15, 2011).\n\n    2. Candidates. Without a payment source, the parties agree that appointing a private party to\n       serve as a special master would be impracticable. Instead, the parties propose that the\n       Court, to the extent necessary, refer certain forfeiture-related matters to a Magistrate Judge.\n       Other courts have adopted this approach for similar issues. See e.g., United States v.\n       Hwang, No. 22 Cr. 240 (AKH), Dkt. 401 (S.D.N.Y. Mar. 12, 2025) (appointing magistrate\n       judge for restitution issues).\n\n    3. Scope of Duties. As indicated in the Government’s January 9, 2026, letter to the Court\n       (ECF No. 785), approximately 134 purported § 853(n) claims were filed on the docket, and\n       the Government has received another approximately 238 purported § 853 claims directly.\n       (There may be some overlap between these two sets of purported claims.) The parties\n       propose that decision as to whether these purported claims are properly brought be referred\n       to a Magistrate Judge for review. 4 See Fed. R. Crim Pro. 59(b).\n\n        The Government submits that after this Court’s referral, the Magistrate Judge should set a\n        conference to discuss, and schedule, the Government’s motion to dismiss purported claims,\n        which the Government asserts do not have standing under § 853(n) and should instead be\n        treated as petitions for remission. See 1/20/26 Hr’g Tr. at 4 (“[The Court:] “victims of Mr.\n        Guo’s fraudulent scheme may be viewed under the law as general creditors and may not,\n        therefore, be able to recover their money under Section 853(n).”). Following the Magistrate\n        Judge’s review of that motion, the Magistrate Judge can then provide this Court a report\n        and recommendation regarding which, if any, of those purported claims should be\n        dismissed. After the Magistrate Judge’s report and recommendation is filed, this Court can\n        entertain any objections to it. See Fed. R. Crim Pro. 59(b)(2). Thereafter, any remaining\n        claimants should propose a schedule to resolve outstanding issues.\n\n        The defense submits that the Magistrate Judge should be afforded the discretion to\n        determine how to proceed. Following the Magistrate Judge’s review, the Magistrate Judge\n        can then provide this Court a report and recommendation. After the Magistrate Judge’s\n        report and recommendation is filed, this Court can entertain any objections to it. See Fed.\n        R. Crim Pro. 59(b)(2). Thereafter, any remaining claimants should propose a schedule to\n        resolve outstanding issues. 5\n\n4\n  The Government believes that claims not filed on the docket should be treated as petitions for\nremission because § 853(n) claimants must petition the Court, not the Government. See 1/20/26\nHr’g Tr. at 4 (“[The Court:] “A person who believes that they have such a claim can seek to recover\ntheir money by filing a Section 853(n) claim with the Court.”); 21 U.S.C. § 853 (n)(2). The defense\nasserts that, given the potential for confusion on the part of claimants, a Magistrate Judge should\nreview in the first instance all undocketed claims received directly by the Government, in addition\nto those filed on the docket.\n5\n  The defense has informed the Government that the defendant does not intend to assert a personal\ninterest in the specific property but reserves the right to participate in forfeiture-related litigation.\nThe Government’s position is that the defendant is not entitled to participate in any such litigation\nbecause, inter alia, he has not asserted a personal interest in any of the assets that would be the\n\n   The parties are available to address any questions that the Court may have.\n\n                                             Respectfully submitted,\n\n                                              SEAN S. BUCKLEY\n                                              Attorney for the United States, Acting Under\n                                              Authority Conferred by 28 U.S.C. § 515\n                                              Southern District of New York\n\n                                      By:                /s/\n                                              ___________________________\n                                              Micah F. Fergenson\n                                              Ryan B. Finkel\n                                              Justin Horton\n                                              Juliana N. Murray\n                                              Assistant United States Attorneys\n                                              (212) 637–6612/2314/2190/2276\n\nsubject of the litigation. Dkt. 799 at 1 (“Mr. Guo reconfirms here that he does not assert a personal\ninterest in the Specific Property.”). Accordingly, the Government’s position is that the defendant\nhas no basis to involve himself in litigation regarding the specific property at issue. The defense\nsubmits that it is impossible at this juncture to determine whether Mr. Guo may have a basis to\nintervene in any such litigation and therefore is unwilling to waive his rights beyond\nacknowledging that he does not assert a personal interest in the Specific Property. The defense,\nmoreover, objects to the Government raising this issue here as the Court has not directed the parties\nto address it.","body_zh":null,"key_entities":["853(n)","forfeiture","Guo","Torres","CIPA","Miles Guo","Analisa Torres","Horton","Fergenson","Murray","Finkel"],"ecf_references":[{"doc_number":4,"court":"SDNY"},{"doc_number":401,"court":"CTB"},{"doc_number":785,"court":"SDNY"},{"doc_number":799,"court":"SDNY"}],"word_count":1073,"status":"published","published_at":"2026-02-10 00:00:00","created_at":"2026-02-10","updated_at":"2026-08-17 09:56:31"}