Democrat New York Judge Has Financial Stake in Case Against Leading Anti-CCP Dissident
(Matthew Palumbo, Headline USA contributor) From day one, acting New York Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager—the Democrat handling the case between Miles Guo and Pacific Alliance Asia Opportunity Fund (PAX)—was a gift to the Chinese Communist Party.
The timing of the suit was suspect. It was filed just one day after Mr. Guo appeared on Voice of America, which was famously cut off on air just before Guo was due to appear. expose Wang Qishan, then vice president of China, and Wang’s connection with HNA Group, a state-owned-enterprise that he exposed as a money-laundering Front for Wang and CCP CCP Kleptocrats.
Voice of America receives its funding from the U.S. tax payer. It was also the first time it had ever stopped live programs. Five journalists were put on leave after—one of whom said it It was because someone “caved to the Chinese government’s demand.”
This VOA interview was Mr. Guo’s first time speaking out publicly against the CCP—and they wanted it to be his last. Guo, despite all their efforts, has continued to fight against the CCP and later established the New Federal State of China organisation to further expose them.
China became aware of the lawsuit on the day it was filed. Interpol has been announced Notice was issued for Mr. Guo’s arrest. This left no doubt that these events were orchestrated by CCP.
PAX is part of Pacific Alliance Group which is one the largest private investment groups based in Hong Kong. Shan Weijian is the founder of the firm and has close ties with CCP.
CCP is a frequent theme in Shan’s public writings. propaganda. Shan praised China’s widely protested “National Security Law“In Hong Kong that allowed extradition to mainland, claiming it restored “social stability” He claims that these freedoms were available to him. “suppressed by violent protesters.” In fact, peaceful protestors were protesting against the exclusion of their freedoms from an autoritarian state.
He stated that Hong Kong “remains an open and free society under the rule of law”—but in the Two years after the law’s passageAccording to Freedom House, Hong Kong’s Freedom in the World rankings fell by 12 points (from 55 to 42 on a scale that places 100 at the top).
Shan A defense of cultural genocide and persecution The Uyghurs In an article, I criticize the U.S. and European Union’s well-documented sanctions against China Human rights violations.
han has The publication of articles was also funded. in U.S. media attacking Mr. Guo.
Ostrager ordering Mr. Guo to be released from prison in the case between Mr. Guo & Pacific Alliance Group was headline news. You will be arrested if you don’t pay $134,000,000 within five daysAccording to a report by, the yacht was taken to the Bahamas following an order to keep it in the U.S.
The fine was $500,000 per day. Ostrager said that the boat was (the “Lady May”) remained out of U.S. jurisdiction.
Miles doesn’t own the Lady May, but his daughter Mei Guo. Mei Guo owns both the ownership of the boat and the financing. Despite that, Ostrager issued an order stating that Mr. Guo is the ultimate owner of the ship—the only evidence for which is hearsay.
The purpose of the judgment was simple: so that Ostrager could deprive Miles Guo of the right to go to trial, and thus force him into bankruptcy—and thus the arms of the Department of Justice U.S. Trustee Office.
This was only the latest in a series biased Ostrager rulings throughout the case. Ostrager denied Mr. Guo the right to present evidence in his favor.
Ostrager made it clear that his fine was too severe. “PAX’s outstanding judgment of $120 million” It was also a “multiple” of the £28 million purchase price of the Lady May. The fine was unfair—Ostrager openly came short of saying just that—and then implemented it anyway.
Mr. Guo did declare bankruptcy—and the DOJ manipulated the trustee appointment process to install Luc Despins as the trustee for his case.
Despins has been a part of the CCP because he is a partner at Paul Hastings, LLC, an international law firm. He has represented many clients. state-owned (i.e. CCP owned) Chinese companies. One writer observed in NewsmaxCCP’s influence is here direct.
Paul Hastings is a client of the Chinese Communist Party. They also hold the licenses that allow them to operate law offices in China and Hong Kong. The CCP effectively controls the purse strings for Paul Hastings and Mr. Despins, making them partners in Paul Hastings.
It is important to understand Ostrager’s conflicts of interest relating to China in order to better understand their motivations.
Justice Ostrager, a 1973 graduate of the New York University School of Law, was appointed by the disgraced governor to the New York Court of Claims. Andrew Cuomo In June 2015. In June 2015, he was appointed as an acting New York Supreme Court justice. He was then assigned to the Commercial division. In June 2017, he was appointed to the New York State Supreme Court. He is still assigned to this same division.
Ostrager was a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett for the majority of his career. Ostrager was also the chair of the firm’s litigation department. He won many multi-billion-dollar lawsuits as a litigator.
Simpson–Thatcher’s business presence in China is extensive, with them having been active there for roughly three decades with offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.
According to their records, they have. Your corporate documentsReprezente “China state-owned” non-state-owned businesses (over which the CCP still retains extensive control).
They’ve represented, among dozens and dozens other CCP-backed clients, state-owned businesses such as:
- Shanghai Electric Group Corporation bought a U.S. supplier.
- VisionChina Media Inc., China’s largest mobile television advertiser is the leader in China.
- Focus Media Holding Ltd is the operator of China’s largest out-of home advertising network and many other services.
Simpson–Thacher represented Blackstone, a leading private equity company in their first ever investment in China—a $600 million investment for 20% of China’s National Bluestar Corporation.
They also represented Blackstone as part of an agreement with Great Eagle Holdings Limited.
Simpson–Thatcher also lists “A chinese company in an investigation by the DOJ into potential theft of trade secrets” among their clients—an odd thing to boast about.
Thacher is a major player in Publication of Chinese companies through America’s stock exchanges—despite Chinese companies having notably weaker accounting requirements than U.S.-based companies, making them more susceptible to fraud. In 2010 for example, of the 34 IPOs of Chinese companies on U.S. markets, 18 had involvement from Simpson–Thacher.
Judges Conflicts of Interest Remarkably, America’s courts have a surprising high number of judges. A 2021 Wall Street Journal Investigative research revealed that at least 131 federal judge had oversaw court cases in which their relatives owned stock, between 2010 and 2020.
It is clear from their verdicts that conflicts of interest rules exist. In two-thirds cases, judges ruled in favor or against their financial interests (a far cry compared to the half you might expect by chance). Ostrager is also affected by this.
Pacific Alliance Group is Asia’s largest alternative asset company and manages more than $20 billion. Blackstone announced that it had invested $400 million in PAG for 17.6% equity. This gives Blackstone a direct link to the CCP-linked PAG.
This was hardly the first time Blackstone had been tied to the CCP—and hardly is the most direct connection. The CCP-controlled China Investment Corporations (CIP) spent approximately $1.2 billion in May 2007. $3 billion Blackstone shares up to 8%. This stake was increased to 12.5% in 2008.
In one case, Ostrager recused himself because of his own personal investment ownership in Blackstone—but not in Mr. Guo’s case. Ostrager started overseeing a suit brought by Tenants of Stuyvesant Town against Blackstone He resigned in 2020 but resigned in 2021 after Simpson Thatcher & Bartlett’s work for Blackstone. His pension is “derived at least in part from the substantial revenue the firm receives from Blackstone.” But there weren’t any concerns about PAG investment.
This isn’t Ostrager’s first refusal to withdraw from the discussion.
Ostrager, a shareholder of Exxon Mobil stock worth up to $250k, didn’t voluntarily withdraw from a case involving them. This led to calls for his reprieve that were ignored.
Ostrager would New York City is the best! “failed to establish” that Exxon violated the Martin Act and any other laws in their public disclosures related to so-called climate change risks—a major win for Exxon.
“The Office of the Attorney General failed to prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that ExxonMobil made any material misstatements or omissions about its practices and procedures that misled any reasonable investor,” Ostrager stated in his ruling that he was protecting his financial interests.
No matter what opinion one has about the validity or inaccuracy of New York’s lawsuit, and no matter how one feels about it, it remains that Ostrager was not the right person to make the verdict and didn’t take the time to withdraw from the proceedings when he clearly should.
Ostrager has also been the subject of controversy in his professional life. You can read more about Ostrager here. Oct. 26, 2018While Mr. Guo was being tried, Justice Ostrager allegedly made antigreek comments in another case involving John Pappas and Peter Skeadas. These men were accused of making anti-Greek remarks while handling a case involving Greek real-estate managers John Pappas and Peter Skeadas. The case involved John Pappas and Peter Skeadas who claimed that Alan Stillman mismanaged a Maloney and Porcelli restaurant they owned.
Skaedas and Pappas’s lawyer Michael Camarinos said that Ostager had told them and a colleague about their client. “You have a couple of old pigheaded Greek clients that don’t know what they are doing.”
There are many other strangeities. Barry Ostrager seems to have defeated the vig—and has racked up over $3.3 million from bets placed on horse racing. These kinds of winnings, despite being suspect due to the high horse racing house advantage, are plausible enough to be attributed statistical uncertainty.
Ostrager could have been chosen by the CCP to be this case’s judge. While there were obvious flaws to his character, his firm’s connections to the CCP and his personal ties with the CCP created an environment where the case was set up to be a showcase trial.
Ostrager may have recused himself from past cases, as Exxon showed, but he is far less likely to do this when he believes he has enough money to win the case. In this instance, he was serving the interests of his most valuable ally.
Matt Palumbo is author of The Man Behind the Curtain: Inside the Secret Network at George Soros (2021), Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo & de Blasio Ruined New York (2020), Debunk This!: The Truth About Liberal Lies (2019). Spygate (2018).
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