- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Qatar Admits It Helped Bail Out Jared Kushner's Manhattan Tower - Reports

© REUTERS / Lucas JacksonA building at 666 Fifth Avenue, owned by Kushner Companies, rises above the street in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017
A building at 666 Fifth Avenue, owned by Kushner Companies, rises above the street in New York, U.S., March 30, 2017 - Sputnik International
Subscribe
The country has also reportedly decided that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) will refrain from pumping money into investment vehicles it does not have full control over.

Qatar has admitted that it "unwittingly" helped a firm linked to its sovereign wealth fund save Jared Kushner's troubled property and walked back on its overseas investment strategy.

"Qatar started looking into how its name got involved in the deal and found out, it was because of a fund it co-owned," a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. "So QIA ultimately triggered a strategy revamp."

A QIA spokesman told Reuters: "QIA had absolutely no involvement in the 666 Fifth Avenue development and the claims about QIA's investment strategy are not true. There has been no change in investment strategy with regards to taking majority control."

Donald Trump's son-in-law and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner was chief executive of the real estate company Kushner Properties when it paid a record-setting $1.8 billion for a flagship building at 666 Fifth Avenue in 2007.

The luxury property encountered financial trouble following the 2008 crisis, and Canada-based Brookfield Asset Management helped Kushner's firm bail it out under a 99-year lease deal last August.

READ MORE: Democrats Urge WH Chief of Staff to Revoke Jared Kushner's Security Clearance

Months before the deal was concluded, the New York Times reported that Brookfield Asset Management was partly owned by the Qatar Investment Authority — in other words, the Qatari government.

Also in May, reports surfaced that QIA-linked officials had held meetings in the Trump Tower in December 2016.

A member of the Syrian civil defence volunteers, also known as the White Helmets, stands next to the tail fin of a bomb as local bomb-disposal experts search for unexploded ordnance in a rebel-held area of Daraa on July 20, 2017 - Sputnik International
In Support of the Syrian People? Qatari Fund Provides White Helmets With $2 Mln

The QIA was quick to deny having knowledge of the deal, but the report still raised some eyebrows, given that Jared Kushner was an ally of the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, which imposed a diplomatic and transport blockade on Qatar together with the UAE over its alleged support of terrorism.

Some have claimed that this investment could qualify as an attempt to influence a government official (Kushner stepped down from his company in January 2017 to take the White House job).

This speculation resurfaced following the Reuters report, with some claiming that Qatar's wealth fund was unlikely to have been unaware of the firm which it partly owned by acquiring interest in 666 Fifth Avenue.

Jed Shugerman from Fordham University mocked QIA for downplaying its participation in the deal as "unintentional" and accused Reuters of being biased.

"It is implausible that Qatar just passively invests billions with no information or influence. Now, suddenly, Qatar is going public with its implausible claim of ignorance. Just as soon as the Brookfield purchase of 666 5th Ave from Kushner was safely completed. Convenient," he wrote.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала