Guo Wengui / Miles Guo — criminal case · TRANSCRIPT · ECF #800

Q1KVGUOC

1 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK 2 ------------------------------x

3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

4 v. 23 Cr. 118 (AT)

5 MILES GUO,

6 Defendant. Conference

7 ------------------------------x

8 New York, N.Y. January 20, 2026 9 10:05 a.m.

10 Before: 11 HON. ANALISA TORRES, 12 District Judge 13

14 APPEARANCES

15 JAY CLAYTON 16 United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York 17 RYAN B. FINKEL JULIANA N. MURRAY 18 MICAH F. FERGENSON JUSTIN HORTON 19 Assistant United States Attorneys

20 MELINDA M. SARAFA JOHN F. KALEY 21 JOSHUA L. DRATEL Attorneys for Defendant 22

23 Also Present: Tuo Huang, Interpreter (Mandarin)

24

25

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

Q1KVGUOC

1 THE COURT: Good morning.

2 we're here in the matter of United States v. Miles

3 Guo.

4 Would you make your appearances, please.

5 MR. FINKEL: Good morning, your Honor.

6 Ryan Finkel, Juliana Murray, Micah Fergenson, and

7 Justin Horton, for the government.

8 THE COURT: Would the interpreter please make their

9 appearance.

10 THE INTERPRETER: Good morning, your Honor.

11 Federal court professionally qualified interpreter Tuo

12 Huang.

13 THE COURT: And now the defense.

14 MS. SARAFA: Good morning, your Honor.

15 Melinda Sarafa, John Kaley, and Joshua Dratel, for

16 Miles Guo.

17 THE COURT: Please be seated.

18 Many individuals who believe they are victims of

19 Mr. Guo's fraudulent scheme have asked for the return of their

20 money. Some have contacted the prosecution and some have

21 contacted the Court. Apparently, there is confusion about how

22 the process of reimbursement works.

23 I'm going to address two types of claims concerning

24 the forfeited assets linked to Mr. Guo's illegal conduct in

25 this case.

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

Q1KVGUOC

1 First, under 21, United States Code, Section

2 853(i)(1), and 28 Code of Federal Regulations 9, a victim may

3 submit to the prosecution what is known as a petition for

4 remission. A petition for remission asks the government to

5 return assets to the victims of a defendant's crimes. The

6 government will evaluate these petitions following the

7 procedures described in Title 28 of the Code of Federal

8 Regulations, Part 9.

9 In a letter to the Court dated January 9th of this

10 year, the government states that, in evaluating such petitions,

11 it will consider whether a victim alleges a monetary loss that

12 was directly caused by the criminal conduct, whether the

13 allegations are supported by documentary evidence and whether

14 the victim did not knowingly contribute to, participate in,

15 benefit from, or act in a willfully blind manner to the events.

16 There is a second type of claim. Under Title 21,

17 United States Code 853(n), an individual can seek return of

18 their assets if they show a stronger legal claim to the

19 forfeited asset than the government does. One way a claimant

20 can do that is by showing that they have superior title to an

21 asset as of the date the asset was forfeited to the government.

22 In other words, the claimant must show that he or she had a

23 stronger legal right to the asset than the defendant at the

24 time of the criminal offense.

25 For example, if a defendant were to borrow someone's

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

Q1KVGUOC

1 car, and then use it to commit a crime, the car owner may be

2 able to successfully assert that they have a superior legal

3 interest in the car under Section 853(n)(6)(A).

4 Another way a claimant can meet this standard is by

5 showing that they were a bona fide purchaser for value of an

6 interest in the forfeited asset. In other words, that he or

7 she bought the forfeited asset from the defendant in good faith

8 after his criminal acts, but with no knowledge of his criminal

9 activity.

10 A person who believes that they have such a claim can

11 seek to recover their money by filing a Section 853(n) claim

12 with the Court. However, I want to emphasize that victims of

13 Mr. Guo's fraudulent scheme may be viewed under the law as

14 general creditors and may not, therefore, be able to recover

15 their money under Section 853(n). In other words, Section

16 853(n) claims are not interchangeable with petitions for

17 remission.

18 Submissions received by the Court that do not

19 reference Section 853(n), but which the Court has instead

20 determined to be petitions for remission, have been referred to

21 the government for its consideration. Those submissions have

22 not been placed on the docket and will not be placed on the

23 docket.

24 The Court is in the process of considering and

25 docketing a large volume of submissions which name Section

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

Q1KVGUOC

1 853(n). Individuals who are represented by attorneys have been

2 added to the docket as interested parties so that they may file

3 their submissions directly on the docket. Individuals who are

4 not represented by attorneys have not been added as interested

5 parties on the docket. But the Court has received and is

6 processing their petitions and will docket them as needed in

7 due course. The Court may direct that the petitions be

8 redacted or filed under seal to protect the claimants'

9 personally identifiable or other sensitive information.

10 In addition, the Court has received miscellaneous

11 petitions making various complaints. Those submissions are

12 being evaluated on an individual basis.

13 The Court has called this status conference to discuss

14 these matters with the parties in order to expedite the Court's

15 consideration of the large volume of Section 853(n) petitions

16 which number over 100. The Court has also asked for the

17 parties' views on the appointment of a special master under

18 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53, which permits a master to

19 perform duties consented to by the parties or to address

20 post-trial matters that cannot be effectively and timely

21 addressed by an available district judge or magistrate judge in

22 the district.

23 I've reviewed the government's letter dated January

24 9th and the defendant's letter dated January 16th, both of this

25 year. The parties recommend that the Court appoint a special

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

Q1KVGUOC

1 master to assist in evaluating Section 853(n) petitions, and in

2 administering ancillary proceedings in this case as needed.

3 Compensation for a special master is limited by

4 Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53(g)(2), which states that:

5 Compensation must be paid either by a party or parties or from

6 a fund or subject matter of the action within the Court's

7 control.

8 How does the government propose that the special

9 master be compensated?

10 MR. FINKEL: Your Honor, the government doesn't have a

11 specific proposal with respect to that issue, but can certainly

12 consider it and file a letter with the Court.

13 Obviously the government is mindful of the assets that

14 it has acquired through forfeiture and wants to retain as much

15 as possible for victims.

16 THE COURT: Is the government aware of other courts

17 nationally where a special master has been appointed to handle

18 Section 853(n) petitions?

19 MR. FINKEL: Standing here today, your Honor, I am

20 not. That's not to say that it hasn't happened. I don't know

21 if it has.

22 THE COURT: I'd like you to look into that and report

23 back to me.

24 MR. FINKEL: We will do that.

25 THE COURT: Is there anything from the defense?

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300

Q1KVGUOC

1 MS. SARAFA: Your Honor, I think our view is very

2 similar to that articulated by the government. We would like

3 to see as much of the seized assets preserved and returned to

4 the investors and customers of the entities involved in this

5 case. And I'm not aware of any authority, standing here today,

6 regarding sources of funds for compensation of a special

7 master.

8 THE COURT: Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 53(b)(1)

9 requires that prior to appointing a special master, the Court

10 must give the parties notice and an opportunity to be heard;

11 and that any party may suggest candidates for appointment.

12 Therefore, by February 10th of this year, the parties

13 shall confer and jointly file a letter recommending candidates

14 to serve as special master under Rule 53(b)(1), and a

15 recommendation as to the terms of compensation. Of course, the

16 letter should also discuss the specific scope of the special

17 master's appointment.

18 Mr. Guo, you've been understanding what the

19 interpreter has said; correct?

20 THE DEFENDANT: (In English) Yes, your Honor.

21 THE COURT: All righty. Is there anything further?

22 MR. FINKEL: Not from the government.

23 THE COURT: All righty. The matter is adjourned.

24 MS. SARAFA: Thank you, your Honor.

25 * * *

SOUTHERN DISTRICT REPORTERS, P.C. (212) 805-0300