Guren "Bobby" Zhou, the businessman behind Aqua1's $100 million purchase of World Liberty Financial's WLFI tokens, was arrested in Britain in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering and remains tied to an active UK investigation. As much as $75 million of that purchase flowed to entities controlled by the Trump family, and the New York Times says it could not determine where the $100 million originated.
Guren "Bobby" Zhou, the businessman behind Aqua1's $100 million purchase of World Liberty Financial's 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, but British officials said the probe remained active as of late July.
A money-laundering case dating to 2019
A British court record filed last November accused Zhou 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.
From a failed flooring business to a crypto fund
Zhou previously ran a British flooring retailer that entered restructuring without repaying about $5 million owed to his father's company, the Times found. He later launched Caduceus, a crypto project whose token had become effectively worthless by 2024 after the company spent about $7.6 million in funding.
After relocating from London to Abu Dhabi in 2024, Zhou led Web3Port, a venture fund that announced a $10 million World Liberty investment shortly after Trump's January 2025 inauguration. A Web3Port entity registered in the British Virgin Islands later changed its name to Aqua1 GP Limited, and two weeks later Aqua1 announced the $100 million WLFI purchase. Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence found that a Web3Port-controlled wallet bought $20 million of WLFI in January 2025, while a second wallet likely tied to Aqua1 purchased another $80 million in June.
Where the money went
Under World Liberty's revenue-sharing structure, as much as $75 million of the Aqua1 purchase went to a company controlled by Trump and his sons, and the deal also benefited relatives of World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff, whose father Steve Witkoff serves as a Trump administration special envoy. Eric Trump met with Zhou in Dubai to discuss the investment, according to the Times' reporting. Zhou later described the arrangement as involvement in "Trump's family's crypto venture."
The Times said it could not determine the source of the $100 million. World Liberty spokesperson David Wachsman told the Times the company followed all applicable laws and regulations and maintains a compliance program that meets or exceeds industry standards, though he declined to say whether World Liberty knew the source of Zhou's funds. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump had no conflicts of interest, and Zhou did not respond to the Times' requests for comment.
Sources: The Block, Crypto Briefing
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