US Sues Businessman For Declining To Register As Foreign Agent - Justice Dept.

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th May, 2022) The Department of Justice said in a press release that it has filed a civil enforcement action against an US business to force him to register as a foreign agent in the United States for allegedly lobbying on behalf of the Chinese government.

"The Department of Justice today filed a civil enforcement action in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to compel Stephen A. Wynn, a US businessperson and hotelier who previously served as the CEO of Wynn Resorts, to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) as the agent of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and a senior official of the PRC's Ministry of Public Security (MPS)," the release said on Tuesday.

The Justice Department pointed out that it had advised Wynn to register as a foreign agent but he declined to do so, the release said.

From June 2017 to August 2017, Wynn contacted then-President Donald Trump and members of his administration to convey the Chinese government's request to cancel the visa or deport a Chinese businessman who left China in 2014 after being charged with corruption and sought asylum in the United States, the release said.

The Justice Department believes Wynn acted at the direction of the Chinese government in order to protect his company in China, the release added.

The complaint is the first affirmative civil lawsuit under FARA in more than 30 years, according to the release.