- In April 2022, The New York Times reported that Jared Kushner had received $2.5 billion in Saudi-backed funds.
- A new Washington Post report reveals how Kushner’s company concealed the source of the funds.
- On an SEC form, a box labeled “Sovereign Wealth Funds and Foreign Official Institutions” was blank.
Immediately after leaving the White House, former senior adviser Jared Kushner set up a company that would eventually become a private equity firm linked to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But due to SEC rules on reporting private equity fund investors’ assets, Kushner was able to legally conceal the identities of its investors and list them only as “non-U.S. persons,” according to a new report. from the Washington Post.
The New York Times reported in April 2022 that Kushner – who worked on Middle East policy under former President Donald Trump – was able to secure more than $2.5 billion in funding for his firm Affinity Partners.
Kushner also reportedly tried to leverage his relationship with other Middle Easterners countries like the United Arab Emirates to secure funds for his business, but it has had little success.
Most of the funds came from the $620 billion Public Investment Fund led by MBS, which personally overrode the recommendations of a Saudi panel advising him not to invest in the companyreported the Times.
In 2018, MBS reportedly bragged that Kushner was “in his pocket”.
According to the Post, the a copy of Kushner’s ADV forman SEC form to register investment firms, Kushner also lists the client of the $2.5 billion fund under “Pooled Investment Vehicles as Clients” rather than “Sovereign Wealth Funds and Foreign Official Institutions.”
Chad Mizelle, an adviser to Kushner’s company, told the Post in a statement that was the correct designation, while the SEC declined to comment.
The form is listed under A Fin Management, which later morphed into Affinity Partners, the Post reported. In the form, Kushner lists Affinity as an “other business name.”
Currently, the SEC and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, a enforcement branch of the U.S. Treasurydo not require investment advisers to report or verify the identity of investors or maintain programs that would deter money laundering schemes, according to a letter to the Treasury Department sent by Democratic senators following Russian oligarchs use American investment companies hide their financial activities.
According to a leaked 2020 FBI memo“threat actors likely use the private placement of funds, including investments offered by hedge funds and private equity firms, to launder money.”
Senator Ron Wyden, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, told the Post that concealing Kushner’s sources of money raises “very serious issues” regarding his financial businesses.
“Following the money is the first problem,” Wyden told the Post. “That’s how you understand potential conflicts of interest.”
Following the 2022 revelation of the funds secured by Kushner, Wyden was one of the senators who investigated conflicts of interest between Kushner and investments from Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Kushner and his father-in-law, Trump, have come under scrutiny for their ties to the Saudi prince and his allies. Kushner reportedly became close to the Crown Prince during the Trump presidency, with The Times reporting that he and MBS texted during addressing each other by their first names.
Trump, on the other hand, has embraced Saudi Arabia as an ally during his administration and boasted of having protected the crown prince of the investigation into the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
In addition to Kushner’s financial ties to the Saudi government, Trump’s LIV golf tournament is funded for an undisclosed amount by the Saudi government.
Relations between Kushner and Trump and the Saudi government persist despite criticism of the crown prince by human rights organizations – the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia – from abuse in the countryincluding his treatment of women And political dissidents. THE The CIA also believes the country is responsible for the murder of Khashoggi.
The SEC and Affinity Partners did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.