Prosecutors are reportedly looking into a $285 million loan made by Deutsche Bank to White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner’s family real estate business a month before Election Day — although it is not clear why.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s Office requested documents about the October 2016 loan to Kushner Companies in mid-November. The loan was part of a refinancing package for a retail space in a former New York Times building in Times Square, Manhattan.
Kushner, who was chief executive of the business in 2016, stepped down from his post in 2017 and sold most of his stake in the company. But the business has raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest. In particular, the firm’s troubled purchase of 666 Fifth Avenue in New York City has reportedly left the company seeking significant investment from foreign sources.
The Times reported last week that prosecutors had subpoenaed records from Deutsche Bank related to Kushner Cos. Although FBI special counsel Robert Mueller has subpoenaed the bank a number of times in relation to his Russia probe, the Times and the Journal both report that the inquiries are not believed to relate to the Mueller probe.
The Journal reports that Kushner has a line of credit from the German bank worth between $5-25 million and has recused himself from matters related to Deutsche Bank, as he had provided personal guarantees on loans from the bank.
While it is not clear what prosecutors are looking for, prosecutors from the same office reportedly subpoenaed the firm in August in relation to a New Jersey development’s use of the EB-5 investment-for-immigration visa program. One Journal Square made headlines in May when Kushner’s sister, Nicole Kushner Meyer, made a pitch to Chinese investors for the project, teasing an offer of green cards.
The Kushner family later apologized for mentioning President Trump as part of its pitch to investors.
The Journal reported, however, that the retail project for which Kushner Cos. obtained the loan from Deutsche Bank did not use the EB-5 program.
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY.