A venture capital firm paid Hunter Biden lucrative sums of money after giving him an ownership stake in exchange for introducing his Chinese and Indian contacts, his federal tax indictment in California shows.
The venture capital firm, founded by a Hunter Biden business associate, gave Hunter Biden equity for introducing him to contacts in China and India and later sent him six figure payments, according to the indictment. (RELATED: Hunter Biden’s Drug Addiction Defense Shattered By New California Indictment)
READ THE INDICTMENT:
“‘Global’ was a venture capital firm founded and operated by a ‘Trial Attorney.’ The Defendant and Business Associate 4 received equity in Global in exchange for introducing Trial Attorney to their contacts in China and India. On or about March 21, 2019, the Defendant received a distribution of approximately $619,000 from Global via Skaneateles,” the indictment reads.
Skaneateles was a business partnership between Hunter Biden and another business associate, with Hunter Biden owning 75% of the company. Biden hauled in a separate payment of $666,572 from the partnership in September 2017, the indictment says.
Hunter Biden’s former accountant and business associate Eric Schwerin was the business partner who held a minority ownership stake in Skaneateles, according to emails on Hunter’s abandoned laptop archive. The “Global” fund appears to be Eudora Global, an investment vehicle founded by Hunter Biden’s former business associate Jeff Cooper, the emails show.
Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, leaves the J. Caleb Boggs Federal Building in Wilmington, Delaware, on July 26, 2023. Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty to minor tax offenses on July 26, as a deal with federal prosecutors fell apart in a Delaware court. The surprise reversal of Biden’s agreement last month to settle the charges came after Judge Maryellen Noreika raised questions about the complicated deal that would also settle a separate gun charge against the president’s son, US media reported. (Photo by RYAN COLLERD / AFP) (Photo by RYAN COLLERD/AFP via Getty Images)
Schwerin laid out the Skaneateles arrangement and their Eudora ownership stake in a March 2019 email laying out the value of Skaneateles’ assets.
“If you look at the entities remaining in Skaneateles that I giving up my 25% of there is significant value there,” Schwerin told Hunter Biden’s then-lawyer George Mesires.
“But as a reminder, Hunter and I received our shares of Eudora as sweat equity for our shares of Radix. Radix was established partially based on my personal relationship with Xiaoying Zeng who became a partner and manager of their business in China,” Schwerin added.
Radix Global Solutions was an international consulting firm that assisted clients with expanding internationally. The firm’s website is now defunct.
Radix Chief Strategy Officer Gregory Mefford became a partner at Eudora Global, and his bio on Eudora’s archived website touted Mefford’s expansion of Radix into India and China. The archived page lists Hunter Biden as a partner at Eudora and Cooper as the founder of Eudora Global and Radix Global.
Schwerin suggested to Biden and then-business associate Devon Archer in 2010 they meet with Xiaoying and an Indian business associate for a potential fund Cooper proposed to invest in companies seeking to expand into China and India. His proposal involved Eudora and Rosemont Seneca Partners, the investment firm Archer and Biden co-founded.
WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 10: Hunter Biden, son of U.S. President Joe Biden, departs a House Oversight Committee meeting at Capitol Hill on January 10, 2024 in Washington, DC. The committee is meeting today as it considers citing him for Contempt of Congress. (Photo by Kent Nishimura/Getty Images)
“Jeff Cooper called me today and wanted to talk about putting together a potential $100m fund which would be used to invest in companies looking to expand into China and India,” Schwerin emailed his business partners.
“I think he has a lead on some small amounts of capital and interest from some people in China and India (Xiaoying and Ravi would help out), but it would require our help raising money for it,” he added.
“Ravi” appears to refer to Ravi Kini, an Indian contact and friend who Schwerin, Biden and business associate Rob Walker hoped to meet with in Washington, D.C., a couple months after Schwerin suggested contacting him, emails show.
Walker appeared to put Kini on a guest list for his wife Betsy Walker’s birthday party at a bowling alley in Bethesda, Maryland, in November 2010, around the time they hoped to meet with Kini, emails indicate.
Rob Walker was a central figure in Hunter Biden’s business dealings with Chinese firm CEFC and told the FBI in December 2020 Joe Biden met with CEFC associates after his vice presidency, according to a transcript of the interview.
The House Oversight Committee subpoenaed Walker in November to have him appear for a closed-door deposition as part of the impeachment inquiry into President Biden’s alleged role in his son’s foreign business enterprise. The Biden family and its business associates hauled in more than $24 million from foreign sources, according to a House GOP memo released in September.
House Republicans are set to issue new subpoenas for Hunter Biden to appear for a closed-door deposition to advance the impeachment inquiry. (RELATED: Hunter Biden Flees Committee Hearing After Making Surprise Appearance)
CEFC sent Walker $3 million in March 2017 through its State Energy HK account and roughly $1 million of the funds went to Biden family accounts, bank records show.
Hunter Biden is facing nine federal tax charges in California tied to his alleged failure to pay over $1 million in taxes during the 2016-19 tax years, the indictment states.
The California indictment confirms the State Energy HK payments and lays out the income Hunter Biden received from Hudson West III, his business entity with CEFC officials. In total, Biden made over $7 million total gross income between 2016 and October 2020, according to the indictment.
Hunter Biden’s defense attorney, Abbe Lowell, attributed the charges to political pressure and Hunter Biden’s last name in a statement following the indictment. Lowell did not respond to a request for comment.
Hunter Biden pleaded not guilty Thursday to the tax charges.