Andrew Kerr, DCNF
- Hunter Biden was repeatedly told by his business partner in emails that he was set to receive payments from the Chinese private equity firm BHR Partners starting in 2019 and for years to come.
- “BHR is due to have a significant distribution in 2019 because of the CATL exit,” Eric Schwerin wrote in a November 2018 email to Hunter Biden.
- Schwerin also told Hunter Biden in December 2018 he can expect BHR to generate income for him “over the next couple of years,” one email shows.
- The revelations conflict with a statement released by Hunter Biden’s lawyer in October 2019 which stated he had not received any distributions from BHR.
Hunter Biden was repeatedly told by his business partner that he would begin receiving significant payments from a Chinese private equity firm starting in 2019, emails obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation show.
The business partner, Eric Schwerin, also told Hunter Biden in a December 2018 email that the Chinese private equity firm, BHR Partners, would generate income for him “over the next couple of years.”
The revelations conflict with an October 2019 statement issued from Hunter Biden’s lawyer, George Mesires, that said Biden had not received any return on his investment in BHR, nor had there been any distributions to the firm’s shareholders since he obtained his 10% equity stake two years prior through his company, Skaneateles LLC.
The emails, which were located on a copy of Hunter Biden’s alleged laptop, show that he took out a $150,000 capital loan with one of BHR’s Chinese-based partners in July 2017 to help fund his $420,000 investment into the firm that year. When the loan came due in December 2018, Schwerin advised Hunter Biden to extend the loan for another year so he could pay it back with future distributions.
“Since BHR will be making distributions in 2019 far exceeding $150,000 it is a no brainer to extend the loan,” Schwerin wrote to Hunter Biden and Mesires in a Dec. 20, 2018, email. “Of course, if we can execute the agreement as proposed 100% of those BHR distributions would go to you.”
Schwerin urged Hunter Biden in a follow-up email one week later, on Dec. 27, to extend the loan, noting that BHR will serve as a revenue stream for him “over the next couple of years.”
BHR is co-owned by the Chinese state-controlled Bank of China, business records for the firm show. The firm states on its website it manages the equivalent of $2.1 billion in assets.
Schwerin told Hunter Biden in a Nov. 19, 2018, email that BHR was due to have a “significant distribution in 2019” because of its exit from the Chinese battery manufacturer Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL).
A Financial Times examination into Hunter Biden’s foreign business ties in October 2019 found that that BHR nearly doubled its investment in CATL. The Chinese private equity firm sold its position in CATL for the equivalent of $30.1 million in 2018 after having invested the equivalent of $15.3 million in the battery manufacturer in 2015.
An email Schwerin sent to Mesires on March 6, 2019, indicated that Hunter Biden’s loan was extended.
“BHR was valued at RMB 60m in November 2016. In today’s dollars that equates to $8.94m. Skaneateles shares would therefore be valued at $894,000,” Schwerin wrote to Mesires in the email that was later forwarded to Hunter Biden.
“I am attributing the full value of the shares even though there is a $150,000 loan due to BHR by Skaneateles because there is a high likelihood that there will be a distribution in 2019 that would repay the loan and still provide a distribution to Skaneateles,” Schwerin added. “This is not even taking in consideration future distributions from exits of Henniges, Sinopec, and Face++. All of these investments are likely to be profitable for BHR.”
Schwerin’s emails to Hunter Biden in late 2018 and early 2019 appear to be part of negotiations between the two to end their business partnership after a falling out.
“Whatever G. Fuck him … he forged my signature,” Hunter Biden emailed Mesires on March 6, 2019, after asked to review an exit proposal Schwerin had sent the lawyer earlier that day.
Among the areas of contention between Schwerin and Hunter Biden was their joint ownership in Skaneateles, the entity that holds Hunter Biden’s stake in BHR, according to the email.
“My concession is that I truly owe him nothing … he owns 25% of Skaneateles in revenue not equity,” Hunter Biden wrote. “Revenue of which he is no longer due after he was fired 2 years ago or longer. So fuck him.”
It’s unclear from the emails if BHR made any distributions to Hunter Biden in 2019 or 2020. Mesires did not return multiple requests for comment asking if Hunter Biden has received or expects to receive future payments from BHR. Mesires also didn’t respond when asked if Hunter Biden’s $150,000 loan used to purchase equity in BHR has been paid off.
An attorney representing Schwerin did not return requests for comment.
Chinese business records accessed Wednesday show that Hunter Biden still holds his 10% stake in BHR through his LLC despite multiple promises from President-elect Joe Biden that no one in his family would engage in business with foreign corporations or governments if he is elected president.
Joe Biden changed his stance on his son’s foreign business dealings in December, telling CNN that no one in his family will “be involved in any business, any enterprise, that is conflicted with or appears to be in conflict, with the appropriate distance from, the presidency and government.”
Joe Biden’s transition team did not return requests for comment.
Hunter Biden revealed last week that he has been notified that federal prosecutors in Delaware are investigating his “tax affairs.” Multiple news outlets have reported that the probe is focused on Hunter Biden’s foreign business activities.
Schwerin’s emails to Hunter Biden and Mesires were located on a copy of Hunter Biden’s alleged laptop that former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani provided to the DCNF in October. Hunter Biden has not denied dropping off his laptop in April 2019 with a Delaware-based computer repair shop.
The owner of the shop is said to have provided it to Giuliani after Hunter Biden failed to retrieve it when services were completed.
A cybersecurity expert cryptographically authenticated a key email on the drive for the DCNF in late October.
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