《大纪元时报》首席财务官关卫东（Weidong “Bill” Guan）被控将 6,700 万美元的犯罪所得转移给该媒体、其附属公司和他本人。
关伟东不认罪，但被媒体公司停职。
《大纪元时报》创办于 2000 年，是一份以 23 种语言发行的报纸。
本周，《大纪元时报》一名高管因涉嫌洗钱被捕，引起了人们对这家自2000年成立以来一直生活在阴影中的媒体的关注，以及对特朗普政府期间转型的关注。
纽约联邦检察官指控《大纪元时报》首席财务官、来自新泽西州塞考卡斯（Secaucus）的关伟东（Weidong “Bill” Guan）将至少6700万美元的犯罪所得（大部分来自骗取的失业保险金）转移给该公司、其附属公司和他本人。Guan 不认罪，但被大纪元时报停职，该报同意与检察官合作。
此案让人对这家曾是特朗普主要网络支持者和阴谋论传播者的公司的未来产生怀疑。
什么是《大纪元时报》？
该公司最初以报纸起家，现在制作新闻网站和视频，有 23 种语言版本。其创始人约翰-唐（John Tang）是一名美籍华人，修炼法轮功（一种冥想和锻炼方式）。中国政府谴责、禁止法轮功，而且据法轮功成员称，中国政府一直在压迫和虐待法轮功信徒。
虽然该媒体试图将其业务与法轮功运动本身保持距离，但该公司表示，它 “认为中国共产党对法轮功学员的迫害，以及法轮功学员以非常英勇的方式应对迫害，是过去 20 年中报道最少的故事之一”。
《大纪元时报》绝不是一家只关注单一问题的新闻机构，其网站周三的头条新闻就是关于前一天晚上的美国政治初选。但《大纪元时报》经常对中国政府进行严厉的报道；周三其网站上的报道包括一篇关于COVID病毒起源的评论文章，以及在天安门大屠杀35周年之际对天安门广场大屠杀的回顾。该网站还突出宣传了法轮功创始人李洪志的一本书。
《大纪元时报》称，“我们的目的不是把我们的观点强加给你，而是向你提供你需要的信息，让你自己做出判断”。
大纪元时报是如何改变的？
目前，大纪元网站上有来自特朗普政府人物彼得-纳瓦罗（Peter Navarro）、塞巴斯蒂安-高尔卡（Sebastian Gorka）和美国亚利桑那州共和党众议员保罗-戈萨（Paul Gosar）的推荐信。
这是一个线索。这家新闻机构在特朗普时代转变了自己，成为了一家支持前总统及其事业的网站。研究保守派媒体的阿拉巴马大学教授鲍尔（A.J. Bauer）说，这在两个方面都是机会主义：领导人从特朗普身上看到了他们认为会与中国政府对抗的总统形象，同时也感受到了从其他相信这一事业的人那里赢得资金的机会。
据《纽约时报》2020 年的报道，在几年的时间里，该媒体成为了一个党派势力强大的媒体，“还创造了一个全球规模的错误信息机器，一再将边缘叙事推向主流”。
《纽约时报》在 2020 年的报道中称，”它接受了各种阴谋论，其中许多是围绕 COVID 的。《大纪元时报》及其附属机构宣扬奥巴马政府监视特朗普 2016 年竞选活动的虚假故事，传播 QAnon 阴谋网站宣扬的理论和有关选民欺诈的说法。
《大纪元时报》通过广告和创建不同页面引导社交媒体用户访问其内容，在 Facebook 上的表现尤为激进。在 NBC 新闻进行调查后，这家社交媒体巨头于 2019 年以违反广告政策为由禁止了该媒体制作的亲特朗普广告。
起诉书没有具体说明这些支持特朗普的活动是通过所谓的犯罪计划资助的。但就在此时，资金正源源不断地涌入。根据联邦财务披露，《大纪元时报》2021 年的收入接近 1.28 亿美元，比 2016 年的 400 万美元有了惊人的增长。这一转变引起了银行、监管机构以及联邦检察官的注意。
根据联邦起诉书，大部分资金都是通过公司的 “网上赚钱 ”团队流入的，该团队由 Guan 负责。起诉书称，Guan 声称这笔意外之财的部分原因是订阅和捐款的增加。
这对大纪元的未来意味着什么？
Guan 是唯一被检方指控的人。但起诉书称，“其他已知和未知的人 ”都知道发生了什么，这让人怀疑公司是否还有其他人可能卷入其中，以及这对《大纪元时报》的未来意味着什么。该公司没有立即回应有关这一话题的询问。
鉴于脸书在2019年对该公司采取的行动，之前使用的玩法对2024年的竞选活动是否有意义值得怀疑。鲍尔说，由于社交媒体网站不再强调新闻和政治内容，一些接触民众的渠道无疑已经关闭。
保守派人士当然也注意到了《大纪元时报》为其事业所做的努力。尽管如此，《大纪元时报》的影响力却出奇地小，为《The Righting》网站监测保守派媒体的霍华德-波尔斯金（Howard Polskin）说。
“他们似乎并没有推动右翼媒体的新闻议程，”波尔斯金说。”我不认为右翼媒体会对他们的所作所为给予太多关注。
鲍尔表示同意。他说，《大纪元时报》的影响力似乎主要局限于那些以反对中国政府为主要诉求的人。
“鲍尔说：”就像其他媒体一样，他们现在很难找到受众。”我不认为会有太多的人在早上喝咖啡时在电脑上打开《大纪元时报》，看看他们说些什么。
What will become of The Epoch Times with its chief financial officer accused of money laundering?
Weidong “Bill” Guan, the chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, has been charged with steering $67 million in criminal proceeds to the media outlet, its affiliates and himself.
Guan has pleaded not guilty but was suspended by the media company.
The Epoch Times, founded in 2000, is a newspaper that is available in 23 languages.
The arrest of an executive at The Epoch Times in a money-laundering scheme this week has drawn attention to a media outlet that has lived largely in the shadows since its founding in 2000 and a transformation during the Trump administration.
Federal prosecutors in New York charged Weidong “Bill” Guan of Secaucus, N.J., chief financial officer of The Epoch Times, of steering at least $67 million in criminal proceeds, much from fraudulently obtained unemployment insurance benefits, to the company, its affiliates and himself. Guan pleaded not guilty but was suspended by The Epoch Times, which agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The case calls into question the future of a company that was a key online supporter of Trump and spreader of conspiracy theories.
WHAT IS THE EPOCH TIMES?
Started first as a newspaper, the company produces news websites and videos, and is now available in 23 languages. Its founder, John Tang, is a Chinese-American who practices Falun Gong, a form of meditation and exercise. The Chinese government has denounced, banned and, according to members, has consistently oppressed and mistreated Falun Gong followers.
While the outlet has sought to distance its operations from the Falun Gong movement itself, the company has said it “sees the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and the remarkably heroic ways in which practitioners have responded to the persecution, as one of the most underreported stories of the last 20 years.”
It is by no means a one-issue news organization, and the lead story on its website Wednesday was about U.S. political primaries the night before. But The Epoch Times does frequent and tough reporting on the Chinese government; stories on its website Wednesday included an opinion piece on the origins of the COVID virus and a look back at the Tiananmen Square massacre on its 35th anniversary. The site also prominently touts a book by Falun Gong founder Li Hongzhi.
The Epoch Times says that “our aim is not to force our perspective on you, but to give you the information you need to make up your own mind.”
HOW DID THE EPOCH TIMES CHANGE?
The Epoch Times website currently has testimonials from Trump administration figures Peter Navarro and Sebastian Gorka and U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona.
That’s a clue. The news organization transformed itself during the Trump years by becoming a site that the supported the former president and his causes. It was opportunistic in two ways: leaders saw in Trump a president they believed would fight against the Chinese government, and sensed the chance to win funding from others who believe in the cause, said A.J. Bauer, a University of Alabama professor who studies conservative media.
In a few years’ time, the outlet became a partisan powerhouse and “has also created a global-scale misinformation machine that has repeatedly pushed fringe narratives into the mainstream,” The New York Times reported in 2020.
It embraced various conspiracy theories, many surrounding COVID. The Epoch Times and affiliates advanced the false story that the Obama administration spied on Trump’s 2016 campaign and spread theories promoted by the QAnon conspiracy site and claims about voter fraud.
The Epoch Times was particularly aggressive on Facebook through advertising and the creation of different pages that guided social media users to their content. Following an investigation by NBC News, the social media giant in 2019 banned pro-Trump advertisements produced by the outlet for violating its ad policies.
The indictment doesn’t specifically say that these pro-Trump efforts were funded through the alleged criminal scheme. But it was around this time that money was pouring in. The Epoch Times reported nearly $128 million in revenue for 2021, a stunning increase from $4 million in 2016, according to a federal financial disclosure. The turnaround caught the eye of banks, regulators and, eventually, federal prosecutors.
Much of the money came in through the company’s “Make Money Online” team, run by Guan, according to the federal indictment. Guan has claimed the windfall was due in part to an increase in subscriptions and donations, the indictment said.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR THE EPOCH TIMES’ FUTURE?
Guan is the only one charged by prosecutors. But the indictment states that “others known and unknown” were aware of what was going on, raising questions about whether anyone else at the company might be drawn in and what this might mean for The Epoch Times’ future. The company didn’t immediately respond to a query on the topic.
Given the action taken against the company by Facebook in 2019, it’s questionable whether the playbook used before has relevance for the 2024 campaign. Some avenues for reaching people have undoubtedly closed because the social media site has been deemphasizing news and political content, Bauer said.
Conservative figures certainly noticed the work put in by The Epoch Times on behalf of their causes. Despite that, the outlet has had surprisingly little influence, said Howard Polskin, who monitors conservative media for The Righting website.
“They don’t seem to be driving the news agenda in right wing media,” Polskin said. “I don’t think right-wing media is paying much attention to what they are doing.”
Bauer agreed. The Epoch Times’ influence seems largely confined to people for whom opposing the Chinese government is a main cause, he said.
“They’re having a hard time, just like everybody else in the media, in finding an audience at this moment,” Bauer said. “I don’t think there’s too many people calling up The Epoch Times on their computer with their morning coffee to see what they have to say.”
https://www.foxnews.com/us/what-become-epoch-times-chief-financial-officer-accused-money-laundering
陳旭@perth 