Christian Billionaire Goes on Trial for Major Wall Street Fraud
Federal prosecutors are trying to prove that Bill Hwang committed massive market manipulation through his investment firm Archegos. His defense says he was trading like anyone else on Wall Street.
Bill Hwang brought a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer to court to read during jury selection.
And during opening arguments on Monday, his Christian connections from New York packed out a courtroom to support him.
He had given his investment firm a Christian name, held Wall Street Bible readings, and distributed millions to evangelical charities.
But federal prosecutors at Hwang’s highly anticipated criminal trial are accusing the billionaire of being a mob boss mastermind rather than a humble evangelical investor following his convictions.
Hwang has been charged with tens of billions of dollars’ worth of securities fraud. In a packed courtroom in lower Manhattan on Monday, the prosecution claimed his investment firm Archegos Capital Management was an “organized criminal enterprise,” like a mob operation. Hwang faces decades in prison.
The blockbuster trial is expected to last eight weeks and will include witnesses from the Christian world in New York. Andy Mills, the former president of The King’s College, who also served as CEO of Archegos and as chairman of Hwang’s foundation, will testify for the defense.
Hwang and his wife, Becky Hwang, are the sole backers of the $528 million Grace and Mercy Foundation, which supports ministries in New York and around the world.
Many of Hwang’s former employees at Archegos are Christians—like Jensen Ko, who, after the collapse of Archegos, started a new investment fund called AriseN. And Archegos was named for a Greek word used to describe Christ as the “author” of our salvation (Heb. 2:10) and the “prince” of life (Acts 3:15).
Archegos fell apart in March 2021. It bought up massive positions in a few companies using borrowed ...