FBI Evacuates Swank UES Hotel Fire After Chinese Exile Arrest: Reports

NEW YORK CITY — FBI agents were forced to flee the apartment of an exiled Chinese businessman Wednesday when a two-alarm blaze erupted in a swanky Upper East Side hotel, according to officials and reports.

Flames broke out on the 18th floor of the Sherry-Netherland Hotel on Fifth Avenue and East 59th Street just after noon Wednesday, FDNY officials said. Video posted to Citizen shows plumes of smoke spiraling over Central Park.

Hours earlier, at about 6 a.m., federal agents arrested exiled Chinese businessman Guo Wengui inside his apartment at the hotel building, ABC News 7 reports.

The agents were still inside the apartment when the blaze erupted, and they will now be involved in the FDNY's investigation, the station reported.

The Chinese billionaire stands accused of conspiring to defraud thousands of followers out of more than $1 billion, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

The stolen money bought Wengui and relatives, a 50,000-square-foot mansion, a $3.5 million Ferrari, and two $36,000 mattresses, said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

The exiled Chinese businessman has lived in the U.S. since 2015, prosecutors said.

“Fraudulent investment scams make victims out of innocent people, ultimately harming the public’s confidence in the integrity of financial systems," said FBI Assistant Director Michael J. Driscoll.

"The FBI continues to make investigating complex financial crimes a top priority, and anyone attempting these crimes will be made to face the consequences in the criminal justice system.”