Hunter Biden, the son of the Democratic president-elect, continues to own a 10% stake in BHR Partners – a Chinese company established in 2013 and funded by both private investors and local authorities, including the People's Bank of China, The Wall Street Journal reported citing filings. The share is held by Biden's Skaneateles LLC based in Delaware, according to the documentation unearthed by the WSJ.
Biden invested some $420,000 in the company, established around two weeks after he arrived in China on board his father's plane, while the latter was visiting the Asian nation as US vice president. Part of the sum was lent to Hunter Biden by his co-investors from BHR, the newspaper said. Since then the company has acquired assets worth over $1 billion, the WSJ said.
Fox News, in turn, reported citing an anonymous source, that Hunter Biden is currently trying to get rid of his stake in BHR Partners, but has not yet succeeded. Representatives for Hunter Biden and his father, President-elect Joe Biden have not yet commented on the WSJ report.
Unfulfilled Pledge of Cutting Ties to China
The reports of Hunter Biden's continuing ownership of the Chinese state-funded company comes in the wake of his father, Joe Biden, assuring his son will not be involved in any business "that is in conflict with or appears to be in conflict with where there's appropriate distance from the presidency". He earlier made similar claims that no conflict of interest exists between him and his son's foreign business affairs.
Hunter Biden pledged last year to end his 10% stake in BHR Partners by 31 October 2019. Official Chinese records from April 2020, however, showed the younger Biden as still being "key personnel" at BHR Partners, and Biden's Skaneateles LLC as still holding the 10% of its shares.
The president-elect's son recently confessed to being a subject of a probe into his tax records by Delaware authorities. However, a Politico report suggested that he is also being investigated by the FBI and the Southern District of New York over his foreign business ties and alleged participation in a purported money-laundering scheme.
His father, Joe Biden, dismissed the allegations against his son as "kind of foul play" and expressed confidence in his innocence. The Trump administration, however, is not convinced and is reportedly seeking a way to appoint a Special Counsel to investigate the Biden family's links to China, which would continue ever after Trump departs office.