Hunter Biden made millions amid ‘non-stop debauchery’
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Hunter Biden’s draft plea was announced in June, but the actual agreement was made public only on Wednesday.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON – Hunter Biden, son of US President Joe Biden, earned more than US$4 million (S$5.3 million) from a Ukrainian energy company, a Chinese private equity firm and other sources during two years in which he descended deeper into substance abuse, according to his proposed plea agreement to federal tax charges.
The younger Biden’s draft plea was announced in June, but the actual agreement was made public only on Wednesday, after US District Judge Maryellen Noreika ordered it unsealed in response to media requests.
The deal, which would see the President’s son plead guilty to misdemeanour charges and serve no jail time, was put on hold after Justice Noreika raised questions about the terms last week.
An exhibit incorporated into the agreement between Biden and federal prosecutors in Delaware sets out in some detail his earnings in 2017 and 2018, two years for which he failed to pay income tax.
Republicans, who have criticised the proposed plea as a sweetheart deal, have seized upon the millions Hunter Biden made to argue that his father must also have benefited.
A lawyer for Hunter Biden did not respond immediately to a request for comment on Wednesday.
In 2017, he made more than US$2.3 million, with US$1 million coming from a company he formed with the chief executive of a Chinese conglomerate, US$664,000 from a Chinese infrastructure investment firm, US$500,000 from a Ukrainian energy company, US$70,000 from a Romanian business, US$48,000 from an international law firm and US$666,000 from domestic business interests.
The sources of his income were not identified in the court filing, but Biden has acknowledged his ties to Chinese company CEFC China Energy, Ukrainian energy company Burisma and the law firm Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
He made more than US$2.1 million in 2018.
According to the agreement, these high earnings came as his drug addiction continued to worsen. The documents cite his own memoir, in which he describes “a spring and summer of non-stop debauchery” in 2018.
According to the agreement, Biden was well aware of his tax liabilities from an accountant he hired.
The accountant prepared Biden’s returns and sent them to him for review and signature. Despite repeated encouragement by his accountant, he never signed or submitted his returns.
According to the agreement, Biden failed to pay his taxes despite having the money to do so.
By May 2019, he had spent money he could have used for that purpose “on personal expenses, including large cash withdrawals, payments to or on behalf of his children, credit card balances, and car payments for his Porsche”.
In October 2021, the court filing notes that Biden’s tax liabilities for 2017 and 2018, which were US$955,800 and US$956,632 respectively, were paid for by an unidentified third party.
That individual also paid US$45,661 and US$197,372 to resolve outstanding tax issues from 2016 and 2019, according to the filing.
That New York Times earlier in 2023 reported that Hollywood entertainment lawyer Kevin Morris lent more than US$2 million to Biden to help resolve his tax issues.
Biden’s proposed plea deal also covers a weapons charge stemming from his possession of a handgun in 2018 despite knowing he was addicted to illegal drugs. BLOOMBERG
