Murray Kushner, the uncle of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner, has reportedly used Trump's status as president to pitch real estate to Chinese investors.
According to Bloomberg Politics, Murray’s KRE Group pitched an apartment complex project in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Chinese investors by using pictures of Jared, Ivanka Trump and President Trump.
Murray's pitch was reportedly made in May and included the tag line: "Work hand-in-hand with Trump son-in-law Kushner." Murray told potential investors that for $500,000 they could qualify for the EB-5 program, a U.S. resident visa category that was originally created to promote jobs and development in neglected areas.
Spokesmen for Kushner Companies -- a company run by Jared and his father, Charles -- and KRE said that Jared and the Trumps are not involved with the apartment project. Jared has reportedly left and divested from parts of Kushner Companies since becoming a White House adviser.
Charles' lawyers reportedly demanded that KRE and its partners cease their marketing practice, according to one of the partners. Charles and his brother Murray are famous for publicly feuding and competing in the New Jersey real estate market.
Ironically, Kushner Companies used pictures of Jared, Ivanka and the president during its marketing pitch in China for its own Jersey City building project. That investment pitch also included the EB-5 visa program, which some in Congress want to change because it has become a way to sell U.S. residency to wealthy foreigners.
Jared’s sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, mentioned Jared's job as a White House adviser as part of her business pitches for Kushner Companies in Beijing, noted the Washington Post on May 6.
Meyer was introduced as Jared’s sister in promotional materials that said: "Invest $500,000 and immigrate to the United States."
KRE and Murray would not comment about using Jared’s name and image to Bloomberg Politics.
A KRE partner, Dave Barry, said the use was unintentional and laid the blame on Noah Visa, a marketing company based in Beijing.
Noah Visa was subcontracted the work by another company, New York Immigration Fund, which the development team hired, according to Barry. New York Immigration Fund did not comment.
Eric Yuan, a manager and part owner of Noah Visa, initially denied using Jared in the promotion content, but after being presented with evidence, he blamed the media: "The media did that to push hot topics; we didn’t do it. Jared has nothing to do with the project."