From about April 2017 to January 2018, George HIGGINBOTHAM, a former licensed attorney employed by the United States Department of Justice, along with another two co-conspirators A & B, received tens of millions of dollars from foreign countries through HIGGINBOTHAM’s escrow account in the name of a retainer, consulting fees, legal fees, client investments, etc. HIGGINBOTHAM also created fake loan documents, investment agreements, and consulting contracts as cover stories. They aimed to lobby U.S. high-level government officials to resolve a Malaysian company’s issues and have a foreign national (Miles Guo) removed from the U.S. and sent back to his country of origin (P. R. China). They also tried to influence the financial institutions to transfer money and avoid scrutiny. On or about October 23, 2017, approximately $41 million was deposited into HIGGINBOTHAM’s escrow account, but the balance had dropped to about $37 million by October 28, 2017. George Higginbotham pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to make false statements to a bank on November 30, 2018.
