President Donald Trump's son-in-law and top advisor Jared Kushner is still being used in marketing materials targeted at wealthy Chinese nationals, raising red flags about the Kushner Companies' use of the Trump administration to sell investors.
Kushner is called "the celebrity of the [Kushner] family" and a "30-something 'Mr. Perfect,'" according to Chinese-language documents obtained by CNN:
One posted online in May by the company US Immigration Fund, a private business based in Florida, also contains a reference to Kushner's appearance on the cover of December's Forbes Magazine, under the headline "This guy got Trump elected." The post was removed shortly after CNN contacted the company for comment.
One webpage posted in March by Chinese company Qiaowai that remains on the company's page on the popular Chinese social media site WeChat mentions Trump and suggests he supports the program: "Even some members of Trump's family have participated in the growth of the EB-5 program ... the "Kushner 88" panoramic New Jersey apartment project ... The lead developer on the now-completed project was Kushner Companies which is linked to Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner." It goes on to say, "Given this, in the Trump era, the EB-5 program is likely to receive support and be expanded."
Earlier this year, Kushner Companies apologized for using Ivanka Trump's husband — the man in charge of, among other things, dealing with China — in promotional material "used to attract wealthy Chinese to a cash-for-visa scheme commonly used by investment-hungry U.S. real estate developers."
The scheme involves Chinese nationals paying $500,000 to invest in a Kushner Companies luxury apartment building in New Jersey. In exchange, the investors would qualify for an EB-5 visa, which can lead to permanent legal residence and has been known as the "golden visa."
Kushner has had close ties to Chinese investors, who have backed a number of the company's business deals. Earlier this year, Kushner Companies was in talks with the Anbang Insurance Group, which has "ownership ties to some of the Communist Party's leading families," according to the New York Times. Those talks, which would have invested billions of dollars in a Manhattan skyscraper that is deep in debt, were scuttled shortly after reports of the talks emerged.
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