The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating a real estate company operated by President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner over its use of a federal investment-for-visa program called EB-5, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
Kushner Cos. received a subpoena in May of 2017 from the SEC, according to sources, asking for information about its use of the program. That month New York federal prosecutors also subpoenaed the company separately regarding development projects financed in part by the program, the Journal reported last year.
The SEC is working in collaboration with federal prosecutors from Brooklyn's U.S. attorney's office, sources said. The exact nature of the SEC inquiry is not clear. Both the SEC and the U.S. attorney's office declined to comment, the article said.
Regarding the SEC inquiry, which had not been previously reported, Kushner attorney Emily Wolf's spokesman reiterated a comment made about the federal inquiry stating, "Kushner Cos. utilized the program, fully complied with its rules and regulations, and did nothing improper. We are cooperating with legal requests for information."
The EB-5 program primarily is used by wealthy Chinese individuals, according to Department of Homeland Security data. It allows green cards to immigrants who invest at least $500,000 in specific U.S. businesses that create at least 10 jobs per investor, allowing green cards to foreign nationals to live and work in the U.S.
The federal and SEC subpoenas came shortly after a marketing campaign soliciting Chinese investors for a project called One Journal Square. As many as 300 people could qualify for green cards who invested $500,000 each in the project, the Journal reported.
Kushner Cos. is not a publicly-traded company, but EB-5 investments are considered securities. Kushner resigned from the company after being named White House senior adviser last year, but continues to have a stake in parts of the business, according to financial disclosure forms he submitted. He has declined to comment regarding the inquiry.