Report: Kushner Firm Receives $800 Million Federally Backed Real Estate Loan
Reprinted with permission from Alternet.
Kushner Cos., Bloomberg News is reporting, has received $800 million in federally backed debt to purchase apartments in Virginia and Maryland. Kushner Cos. is a high-end real estate company owned by the family of White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner, who is married to President Donald Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump.
The loan, according to Bloomberg News, was issued by Berkadia, which is co-owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Jefferies Financial Group — and the deal is backed by the government-owned Freddie Mac. Bloomberg News received its information from someone who was familiar with the transaction but agreed to be interviewed only on condition of anonymity.
Spokespersons for Kushner Cos., Freddie Mac and Berkadia did not respond to Bloomberg’s interview requests.
Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Jared Kushner’s attorney Abbe Lowell, has insisted that the president’s son-in-law is not involved in the management of Kushner Cos. In an e-mail in February, Mirijanian told Bloomberg News, “As part of an ethics agreement he has and has followed, Mr. Kushner has had no role in the Kushner Cos. or its activities since joining the government over two years ago. He is walled off from any business or investment decisions and has no idea or knowledge of these activities.”
Kushner Cos. was founded in 1985 by Jared Kushner’s father Charles Kushner, who gave the operation of the company to his son after being convicted of tax evasion and witness tampering in 2005. Charles Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison but only served 14 months.
In February, Bloomberg News reported that Kushner Cos., in a $1.5 billion deal, was purchasing 6030 apartments from the private equity firm Lone Star Funds.
IMAGE: Trump senior adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, left, in the Oval Office with Vice President Mike Pence, the president (seated) and former staff secretary Rob Porter on January 20, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
