TL;DR
- WLFI received $100M from the Aqua1 Foundation, linked to Guren “Bobby” Zhou, who is under investigation in the United Kingdom for money laundering.
- Up to $75M of that capital flowed to entities controlled by the Trump family and affiliates of co-founder Zach Witkoff.
- Two of Zhou’s employees were indicted in September 2025; one has already pleaded guilty and the trial is set for 2028.
The New York Times revealed that the largest individual purchase of governance tokens of WLFI —the decentralized finance platform co-founded by the Trump family— traces back to Guren “Bobby” Zhou, a Chinese businessman under active investigation by the United Kingdom on suspicion of money laundering. The transaction, worth $100 million, was executed on June 26 through the Aqua1 Foundation, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates.
When the transaction was completed, Aqua1 was publicly identified as World Liberty Financial’s largest individual investor at the time. What was unknown then, and now forms the core of the Times report, is who was funding that capital.
Up to $75 million of the $100 million were directed to entities controlled by the Trump family and by affiliates of Zach Witkoff, the project’s co-founder. The token structure establishes that the Trump family is entitled to 75% of all revenue generated by WLFI token sales, which grant governance and voting rights, not equity participation in the company.
Zhou’s Background and the Ongoing Investigation
Zhou was arrested in the United Kingdom in March 2021 on suspicion of money laundering. A British court record filed last year identified him as a participant, along with five other individuals, in a laundering operation dating back to 2019. Two of Zhou’s longtime employees were indicted in September 2025 and one has already pleaded guilty.
The trial for the defendants is scheduled for 2028. British authorities confirmed that the investigation into Zhou remains active as of late July 2026. In addition, Chinese courts issued civil judgments against Zhou for approximately 19.4 million yuan, around $2.4 million, over unpaid loans. However, he has not been formally charged with any crime to date.
The report details that Zhou met with Eric Trump in Dubai to discuss the investment in WLFI and described his participation as an entry into the “Trump family crypto venture.” The exact origin of the $100 million used by Aqua1 has not been clarified, and the Times report notes that there is no public evidence linking the specific funds from the purchase to laundering activity.
WLFI: A Pattern of Foreign Capital Under Investigation
This case is not the first to raise red flags in the industry. Senator Elizabeth Warren asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to review a separate $500 million transaction in WLFI on national security grounds, after an investment vehicle linked to the United Arab Emirates acquired a 49% stake in the project shortly before Trump’s inauguration.
That transaction has already led to an investigation by the House Select Committee. Neither WLFI, nor Eric Trump, nor Zach Witkoff issued public statements in response to the Times report on Zhou’s profile. The company has maintained in previous instances that its token sales comply with applicable disclosure requirements.
