$100M Money Laundering-Linked Investment Fuels WLFI Tokens
A Chinese businessman named Guren 'Bobby' Zhou is at the center of a money laundering investigation in the UK. In June, his UAE-based entity Aqua1 Foundation bought $100 million worth of WLFI governance tokens from World Liberty Financial, a DeFi project co-founded by the Trump family and the Witkoff family.
WLFI's token structure grants governance and voting rights rather than equity in the company, with the Trump family entitled to 75% of all WLFI token sale proceeds. The $100 million investment was directed towards entities controlled by the Trump family and affiliates of World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff.
Zhou was arrested in March 2021 on suspicion of money laundering and has been under active investigation ever since. Two of his employees were charged in September 2025, with one pleading guilty and a trial scheduled for 2028. British officials confirmed the investigation into Zhou remains active as of late July 2026.
Aqu1 used $100 million to buy WLFI tokens on June 26, but it's unclear where this money came from. World Liberty Financial has previously stated that its token sales comply with applicable disclosure requirements.