Kushner's family to skip China roadshows

The Kushner family name is displayed on advertising at the One Journal Square project in Jersey City, New Jersey. PHOTO: AFP

SHANGHAI • The company owned by the family of senior White House aide Jared Kushner will skip roadshow events in China this weekend seeking money from local investors for a real estate project in exchange for a shot at United States immigrant visas, a company spokesman said.

Ms Nicole Kushner Meyer, Mr Kushner's sister, appeared at marketing events last weekend in Beijing and Shanghai in an effort to raise US$150 million (S$211 million) from Chinese investors through the controversial EB-5 visa-for-investment programme.

According to marketing materials from one of the organisers of the roadshow, sales events for the project are scheduled in the southern cities of Shenzhen today and Guangzhou tomorrow.

"No one from Kushner Companies will be in China this weekend," said firm spokesman James Yolles.

The company and KABR Group are raising money for a two-tower apartment complex in New Jersey called One Journal Square, marketing materials showed.

Kushner Companies earlier this week apologised for Ms Meyer having mentioned Mr Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law, in discussing the project.

The company said Ms Meyer had done so only in an attempt to make clear that her brother was not involved. "Kushner Companies apologises if that mention of her brother was in any way interpreted as an attempt to lure investors. That was not Ms Meyer's intention," it said.

Mr Kushner, whose White House portfolio includes relations with China, sold his company stake to a family trust early this year.

The EB-5 programme allows wealthy foreigners to, in effect, buy US immigration visas for themselves and their families by investing at least US$500,000 in certain development projects.

REUTERS

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on May 13, 2017, with the headline Kushner's family to skip China roadshows. Subscribe