Money laundering charges raise questions about the direction of The Epoch Times

The Epoch Times began as an anti-Chinese Communist Party newspaper founded by Chinese dissidents and later morphed into a global conservative multimedia company championing former President Donald Trump and conspiracy theories, claiming an audience of millions.

Now it is in turmoil.

Its chief financial officer, Weidong Guan, was arrested earlier this month for allegedly engaging in a multi-year money laundering scheme that federal prosecutors say helped drive the company’s skyrocketing growth in revenue in recent years. Days after the CFO’s arrest, the founder and CEO resigned and an interim management team is now running the media organization.

Guan has pleaded not guilty and is currently suspended from his job, according to a statement from The Epoch Times. The organization has said it intends to fully cooperate with the federal investigation.

In the latest twist, the founding leader of Falun Gong, a Chinese spiritual movement The Epoch Times is associated with, appears to be publicly scolding The Epoch Times for its alleged financial wrongdoing and embrace of partisan politics.

The spiritual leader, Li Hongzhi, has penned two columns since the CFO’s arrest that appear to address the media company’s embattled leadership directly and are posted prominently on The Epoch Times’ homepage.

“You were thinking that it’s hard to fight the CCP’s persecution without funds, and wanted to make money for this cause; and that the U.S. government would be understanding if something wasn’t handled quite right,” Li wrote in a piece posted June 5, adding, “But that was your own thinking.”

In a second piece that appeared on the homepage under the headline “Wake Up” that posted June 8, Li urged his adherents who work in media to stop