SEC Probes Kushner Cos. Over EB-5 Investment-for-Visa Program

The Wall Street Journal reports Kushner Companies received a subpoena in May 2017 asking for information on how the company uses the EB-5 program, the so-called "crack cocaine of real estate financing", which gives green cards to foreign investors who commit a minimum of $500,000 to American businesses.

The SEC in May subpoenaed records from Kushner Cos. concerning its links to the program, according to the Journal. The SEC subpoena was reported earlier Saturday by the Wall Street Journal, which also published a story in August on the subpoena issued by New York's Eastern District. Most of the 10,000 EB-5 visas issued each year go to rich Chinese immigrants, according to the newspaper.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has joined an investigation into Kushner Cos., the real estate company owned by the family of White House senior adviser Jared Kushner.

The nature of the federal prosecutors' subpoena includes email correspondence for One Journal Square, the embattled $1 billion pair of towers Meyer was fundraising for in Shanghai when her infamous misstep last spring occurred.

The EB-5 program offers green cards to aspiring immigrants who invest at least $500,000 in certain USA businesses that have been determined to create at least 10 jobs per investor. Critics say it has become a way for wealthy foreigners to buy USA citizenship while financing projects that have dubious job-creation value or are located in already thriving areas. In several cases in recent years, US -based real estate developers have collected hundreds of millions of dollars from unsuspecting foreigners for projects that never materialize or were outright fabrications from the start.

What is EB-5, exactly? After joining the Trump administration in an official capacity, he resigned from the company and sold some of his assets to family members.

"Kushner Cos. utilized the program, fully complied with its rules and regulations, and did nothing improper".

Though Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior White House adviser, stepped down from running the company, he still maintains a stake in projects.

Christine Taylor, a Kushner Cos. spokeswoman, said in an emailed response that "as we said months ago, we are cooperating with all government requests for information about our past legal use of the EB5 program".

http://theafricom.com/2018/01/07/sec-probes-kushner-cos-over-eb-5-investment-for-visa-program.html

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