A businessman previously investigated in Britain on suspicion of money laundering has been identified as the figure behind Aqua1's purchase of $100 million worth of tokens from World Liberty Financial, a crypto project involving the Trump family. The businessman was named as Guren Zhou (구렌 저우).

A Cointelegraph report citing The New York Times on Aug. 10 said Zhou was identified as a person involved in the purchase of WLFI tokens in June 2025.

The New York Times questioned how Zhou was able to invest millions of dollars in World Liberty. Zhou was arrested in Britain in 2021 on suspicion of money laundering, and a crypto business worth tens of millions of dollars that he started also failed.

Zhou is also known by the name Bobby. The purchase brought financial benefits to the family of U.S. President Donald Trump and the family of World Liberty co-founder Zach Witkoff. Zhou was introduced as a businessman with ties to Britain and the United Arab Emirates.

Questions about who is behind Aqua1 grew after Dave Lee was mentioned earlier. The Aqua1 Foundation said Lee joined in April 2025 as co-founder and chief executive officer, but it did not mention whether he was behind the funding for the WLFI token investment.

Aqua1 has introduced itself as a UAE-based Web3 fund. That raised questions that foreign funds linked to the Trump family's crypto business could create conflicts of interest with the Trump administration. White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly repeatedly said there was no conflict of interest related to the president's investments.

A major investor in World Liberty is Tron founder Justin Sun (저스틴 선). Justin Sun first invested $45 million in the company's tokens, and an Abu Dhabi institution backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan was reported to hold a $500 million stake.