- In April 2022, The New York Times reported Jared Kushner received $2.5 billion in Saudi-backed funds.
- A new Washington Post report reveals how Kushner's company concealed the source of the funds.
Immediately after leaving the White House, former Senior Adviser Jared Kushner created a company that would eventually become a private equity firm with ties to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
But because of SEC rules on reporting assets from investors of private equity funds, Kushner was able to legally conceal the identity of his investors and list them only as "non-United States persons" according to a new report from the Washington Post.
The New York Times reported in April 2022 that Kushner — who worked on Middle East policy under former President Donald Trump — was able to secure over $2.5 billion in funds for his company Affinity Partners.
Kushner also reportedly tried to leverage his relationship with other Middle Eastern countries like the United Arab Emirates to secure funds for his firm, but this came with little success.
The largest share of money came from the $620 billion Public Investment Fund led by MBS, who personally overstepped recommendations by a Saudi panel advising him against investing in the firm, the Times reported.
In 2018, MBS reportedly bragged that Kushner was "in his pocket."
According to the Post, on a copy of Kushner's Form ADV, an SEC form to register investment ventures, Kushner also lists the client of the $2.5 billion in funds under "Pooled investment vehicles as clients" rather than under "Sovereign wealth funds and foreign official institutions."
Chad Mizelle, an adviser to Kushner's company, told the Post in a statement that this was the correct designation, while the SEC declined to comment.
The form is listed under A Fin Management, which later transformed into Affinity Partners, the Post reported. In the form, Kushner lists Affinity as an "other business name."
Currently, the SEC and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an enforcement branch of the US Treasury, do not require investment advisers to report or verify the identities of investors or maintain programs that would deter money laundering schemes, according to a letter to the Treasury Department sent by Democratic Senators in the wake of Russian oligarchs using US investment firms to hide their financial activities.
According to a leaked memo from the FBI in 2020, "threat actors likely use private placement of funds, including investments offered by hedge funds and private equity firms, to launder money."
Sen. Ron Wyden, the chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told the Post that the concealment of Kushner's money sources raised "very serious issues" about his financial ventures.
"Following the money is the premier issue," Wyden told the Post. "That's how you understand potential conflicts of interest."
Following the revelation in 2022 of funds secured by Kushner, Wyden was one of the senators who investigated the conflicts of interest between Kushner and investments from Middle Eastern countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Kushner and his father-in-law, Trump, have received a fair share of scrutiny for their ties to the Saudi prince and his allies. Kushner reportedly became close to the crown prince during the Trump presidency, with the Times reporting that he and MBS texted while addressing each other by their first names.
Trump, on the other hand, embraced Saudi Arabia as an ally during his administration and bragged that he protected the crown prince from scrutiny over the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.
In addition to Kushner's financial ties to the Saudi government, Trump's LIV golf tournament is being funded for an undisclosed amount by the Saudi Arabian government.
The relationships between Kushner and Trump and the Saudi Arabian government persist despite criticisms of the Crown Prince by human rights organizations — the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia — of abuses in the country, including its treatment of women and political dissidents. The CIA also believes the country is responsible for the murder of Khashoggi.
The SEC and Affinity Partners did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.