Man wires $500,000 to suspicious company; woman calls MIPD over fake dating profile | Police blotter
Selected incidents between June 25-July 9
July 8
More forgery: A man reported that he had joined a company called GTV Media Group, Inc. as an investor. He said that he was told by the suspect that the company was launching a video-sharing platform akin to YouTube. The victim entered a contract with the promise that he would receive company shares. He subsequently wired $500,000 for 500,000 shares to the suspect. The victim still has not received shares and can’t get in touch with the suspect. The FBI is investigating the matter; the suspect, who is characterized as a New York-based “billionaire,” is named Guo Wengui. After following up, Mercer Island police learned that several others have similarly wired large sums of money to receive shares at GTV. However, the FBI has confirmed that the suspect hasn’t been spending wired money on “frivolous things that would suggest he misrepresented what he was going to do for investors.” According to Guo, GTV is a media group that will be able to “hack the Chinese firewall” to contact Chinese citizens to unite and overturn the Chinese Communist Party. The FBI hasn’t found anything criminal about the investments but is continuing to investigate.
