The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating Ivanka Trump and husband Jared Kushner’s business dealings, including negotiations and financing at the Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver, CNN reported March 1.
The news network cited two unnamed sources and said that the scrutiny could be a hurdle for Trump’s daughter as she tries to obtain a full security clearance in her role as an adviser to President Donald Trump.
That is because the FBI is trying to determine whether any of Trump and Kushner’s business dealings could leave them vulnerable to pressure from foreign agent, including China, CNN said, citing a “U.S. official.”
Vancouver’s Trump tower opened in February 2017 amid boisterous protests outside.
The tower’s developer, Holborn Group CEO Joo Kim Tiah, who is a scion of a wealthy Malaysian family, told Business in Vancouver in 2013 that he chose the Trump Organization to manage the hotel in his 63-storey tower because he felt an affinity with Ivanka’s brother Donald Trump Jr.
“Me and Don Jr. have a lot of similarities,” Tiah said at the time. “We're both second-generation people. We both have strong, dominant fathers who are very successful. How Don treats Don Jr. is very much how my dad treats me. It's firm. He's very tough on his kid. I can associate.”
The Trump Organization receives licensing and marketing fees from Holborn and President Trump’s June financial disclosure form said the Trump Organization made more than US$5 million in royalties and US$21,500 in management fees from the Vancouver property, according to CNN.
“In the case of Vancouver, it’s not clear why investigators are examining this particular deal,” reported CNN. “The timing of the deal – as one of the few Trump-branded properties to open since Trump took office – could be of interest. The flow of foreign money, either from the developer or international condo buyers, could also be sparking scrutiny.”
BIV has reported on the long flow of lawsuits that resulted while the project was being built. One of those lawsuits was contractor Urban One, which sued Holborn for $835,059.10 in unpaid bills for providing contract management services.
Urban One president Allan Beron told BIV last month that Holborn had settled that lawsuit and paid in full.
Tiah confirmed in an email earlier this week that relations with Urban One are good enough that he might contract the company again for future projects.
The $360 million project features 147 guest rooms and 217 luxury residences, many of which were purchased by foreign buyers.
