The Department of Justice has reportedly told casino mogul Steve Wynn to register as a lobbyist for China over his 2017 efforts to curry favor with Chinese authorities.
At the root of the order is Wynn’s efforts to persuade American officials to send Guo Wengui, a Chinese businessman with ties to former President Donald Trump, back to his home country, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Guo, who fled to New York in 2014, has been charged with a range of crimes in China including sexual assault and corruption — and Chinese authorities consider him a fugitive.
He has denied all allegations, saying that he simply fell out of favor with Communist Party officials in China.
Prosecutors have prepared evidence about Wynn’s work in recent months, readying for court if he doesn’t register as a foreign lobbyist on his own, the Journal reported.
The law, the Foreign Agents Registration Act, doesn’t provide for civil penalties, but the Justice Department could seek a court order to force Wynn to comply, the rep ort said.
“Steve Wynn never served as an agent or lobbyist for China or anyone else,” Wynn’s attorney, Reid Weingarten, told the Journal. “He was merely a loyal messenger of information he received to our government.”
“Any effort to pursue him in any way for this conduct would be both a miscarriage of justice and an unwarranted extension of the FARA statute,” Weingarten added.
Wynn, who stepped down as CEO of Wynn Resorts in 2018 amid sexual misconduct allegations, oversaw the construction and operation of several notable hotels in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, including the Mirage and Bellagio. The billionaire is often attributed with building the modern Las Vegas Strip.
His former company, Wynn Resorts, is one of the few US companies to operate a hotel and casino in Macau, a Chinese territory that’s become a gambling powerhouse.
Wynn has also been a prolific donor to Trump and other Republicans. At the time of his alleged lobbying on behalf of China in 2017, Wynn was the national finance chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Guo, meanwhile, is a member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida and is an associate to former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon.
“I am glad to hear the DOJ is investigating Steve Wynn and frankly believe they should criminally indict him for serving as a greedy spy of the Chinese Communist Party,” Guo told the Journal.
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