Cotswolds hotel tied to London brothel raids
John Simpson, Crime Correspondent | Will Humphries, Southwest Correspondent
Friday April 24 2020, 12.01am, The Times
When Jason Guo and his wife arrived at the Victorian manor house in the bucolic hilltop town in the Cotswolds, the only controversy he prompted was over planning permission.
That changed on Wednesday morning when Mr Guo’s boutique hotel in Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, was raided by police as part of an investigation into allegations that women were being forced to work in brothels in central London.
The Times understands that Mr Guo, 27, was arrested on suspicion of money-laundering offences as detectives announced that they had seized a Bentley and a Rolls-Royce and more than £1 million in cash, watches and artwork, including prints by Picasso and Andy Warhol, in a series of raids. He and a second person arrested in Gloucestershire have since been released on bail.
Four other people were arrested in a series of dawn raids on seven properties in some of London’s most affluent areas, including Notting Hill and Westminster. The four suspects remained in custody last night accused of modern slavery offences.
Women from China, eastern Europe and Britain were found at four alleged brothels in London. They had continued to operate despite the coronavirus lockdown. The alleged victims were taken to be cared for by specialists in modern slavery from the Salvation Army, Scotland Yard said.
Mr Guo, who lives at the hotel with his wife, Paula, and their young daughter, is known locally as a somewhat reclusive art collector. It is understood that he left the property with police officers at about 8.30am on Wednesday.
In planning documents protesting at the conversion of stables into accommodation near his hotel, Crestow House, he wrote of his passion for the local area: “The Cotswolds is prized for its beauty. Poor decisions made elsewhere have resulted in the beauty of some areas being diluted over time.
“I feel it is important that this renowned town is protected by only allowing development which is of a high design quality — something which is clearly not evident here as the developer is trying to shoehorn too many houses on to this small site, if granted I feel this scheme in its current format will contribute to an overall lessening of the areas cherished charm and should be amended while there is the opportunity to do so.”
The Victorian manor house, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, overlooks the Dikler river and rolling hills to the rear.
Mr Guo, whose family are thought to have a background in hospitality, and his wife have transformed the building into a four-star hotel over the past three years, with a swimming pool and well cultivated gardens. The house is understood to be rented from Europe Property Management, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, but Mr Guo is the registered owner of the hotel under his birth name, Xinui Guo.
The hotel website boasts of “the opportunity for indulgence around every corner”, including a residents-only bar, champagnes and wines from a specialist vintner and cigars from Central America.
Mr Guo’s accountant, Leo Ho, said last night that he would be shocked if his client had become caught up in anything like the alleged criminal enterprise. “I would be so, so surprised if he did anything like this,” he said.
When asked about the seizures, Mr Ho added: “I didn’t even know they had that kind of property. I don’t believe he could be that kind of person.” He suggested that Mr Guo’s identity might have been stolen.
Residents in the Cotswolds market town said that Crestow House had been a private home when it was bought in 2016 by a Chinese businessman who turned it into a hotel with walls and staircases lined with original artworks and prints.
“We understand it’s owned by a Chinese man and the son of one of the directors is the current tenant and has developed it into a hotel,” one resident said.
Another said that the businessman’s wife had moved out of the home after living there for six months and returned to a property in Canary Wharf, east London, because she did not like the area.
The hotel has had a series of reviews in supercar and classic car publications that have alluded to its celebrity and international clientele. A consultancy brought in by Mr Guo over his plan to create the hotel boasted on its website that “Crestow House was planned to be the most prestigious venue in Stow-on-the-Wold, and it became that”. Yesterday the consultant took the promotion down.
The hotel is closed in accordance with lockdown rules and Mr Guo was thought to have been preparing to furlough staff. He could not be reached for comment last night.
