The Feds just seized a fraudster's Bugatti Chiron and Lamborghini SVJ, and it's a hell of a collection
A hypercar garage built on other people's stolen money
Crime, it turns out, does not pay, but it does buy a spectacular garage. US federal authorities have seized a jaw-dropping collection of luxury metal from Miles Guo, the exiled Chinese businessman just sentenced to 30 years in prison for masterminding a fraud worth more than 1 billion dollars. The cars are dream-garage stuff, but the story behind them is anything but glamorous.
The cars now in federal hands
The seized collection is the stuff of fantasy. There is a Bugatti Chiron, the 1,600 hp quad-turbo W16 hypercar that cost around 3 million dollars new and is worth closer to 5 million today, and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, the 770 hp naturally aspirated V12 monster, valued in the case at more than 832,000 dollars. Add a Rolls-Royce Phantom for good measure and you have a garage most enthusiasts could only dream of, all now sitting in federal custody.
Not just the cars
The vehicles are only part of it. Authorities also took a 2 million dollar yacht and a 26.5 million dollar mansion in New Jersey. All told, the seized assets form part of roughly 889 million dollars in proceeds forfeited to the US government, a staggering sum that hints at just how much money flowed through Guo's schemes.
The crime behind the collection
Guo was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud and money laundering, after leading a scheme that prosecutors say stole more than 1 billion dollars from thousands of victims in the US and around the world. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison. It is worth remembering that every one of these glittering machines was effectively paid for with money taken from ordinary people who trusted him, which rather takes the shine off the metal.
AutoNext Take
It is hard not to rubberneck at a garage like this, but the real story is the fraud, not the cars. A Chiron, an SVJ and a Phantom make for an eye-watering line-up, yet each one is really a monument to a billion-dollar betrayal of thousands of victims. The small comfort is that the assets have been clawed back, and one hopes the proceeds go some way to compensating the people Guo defrauded. As for the cars, they will likely end up at government auction, where, ironically, someone will get to enjoy these hypercars with a far cleaner conscience than their last owner.
Seized supercars often end up under the hammer, as with Belgium's own Fin Shop supercar auction. For happier hypercar news, Bugatti just built the porcelain Mistral Blanc Eternel, and Lamborghini revealed the 812 hp Urus SE Performante.
