World Liberty received $100 million from businessman investigated for money laundering: NYT

Guren "Bobby" Zhou, the businessman behind Aqua 1's $100 million purchase of World Liberty Financial (WLFI) governance tokens, was arrested in Britain in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering and remains connected to an active investigation, The New York Times reported Sunday.

Zhou has not been charged. A British court record filed last November accused him of participating with five other people in a money laundering operation dating to 2019, according to the Times. Two of his longtime employees were charged in the case last September, and one defendant has pleaded guilty. A trial for the charged defendants is scheduled for 2028.

Reuters first identified Zhou as the person behind Aqua 1, the Times noted. The Block reported in June 2025 that the little-known UAE-based fund had purchased $100 million of WLFI, making it one of World Liberty's biggest known token buyers.

The Times, through a review of court records, confidential documents and interviews with Zhou's former associates, found a history of failed ventures, disputed claims of prominent backers, and a sudden change in Zhou's fortune after he moved from London to Abu Dhabi in 2024.

Source of $100 million remains unclear

Zhou previously ran a British flooring retailer that entered restructuring without repaying about $5 million owed to his father's company, according to the Times. He later launched Caduceus, a crypto project whose token became effectively worthless by 2024 after the company spent about $7.6 million in funding.

Caduceus announced backing from China Merchants Securities UK and the Bin Zayed Group, which was founded by a member of Abu Dhabi's royal family. Both organizations told the Times that representations about their involvement were "unauthorized and materially false."

After relocating to the UAE, Zhou led Web3Port, a crypto venture fund that announced a $10 million World Liberty investment shortly after Trump's January 2025 inauguration. The Times reported that a Web3Port entity registered in the British Virgin Islands later changed its name to Aqua 1 GP Limited. Two weeks after the name change, Aqua 1 announced the $100 million WLFI purchase.

Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence determined that a wallet controlled by Web3Port bought $20 million of WLFI in January 2025 and that a second wallet likely controlled by Aqua 1 purchased another $80 million in June, according to the Times.

Aqua 1 previously denied having a connection to Web3Port, following a report that linked the two operations. Aqua 1 did not specify which details of that earlier report it disputed.

The Times said it could not determine the source of the $100 million. Under World Liberty's revenue-sharing arrangement, as much as $75 million from the purchase was distributed to a company controlled by Trump and his sons, the newspaper reported. The transaction also benefited the family of World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff, whose father, Steve Witkoff, serves as a Trump administration special envoy.

The Block previously reported that 75% of proceeds from WLFI token sales flow to DT Marks DEFI LLC, a Trump-controlled entity. Trump's latest financial disclosure listed more than $65.6 million from the sale of equity in WLF Holdco and $236.25 million in distributed World Liberty token-sale proceeds, according to The Block.

World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman told the Times that the company followed all applicable laws and regulations and maintained a compliance program that "meets or exceeds industry standards." He declined to say whether World Liberty knew the source of Zhou's funds. Wachsman also disputed the newspaper's characterization of Zhou but did not identify any specific inaccuracies.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told the newspaper that Trump had no conflicts of interest. Zhou did not respond to requests for comment from the Times.