Ukraine Lawmaker: Hunter Biden & Partners Took $16.5 Million 'by Criminal Means'
Top government official alleges Burisma profited by stealing from Ukrainian citizens
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Former Vice President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, and his Ukrainian business partners, allegedly received $16.5 million that was "obtained by criminal means," according to a bombshell allegation by a top Ukraine lawmaker.
On Wednesday, a member of Ukraine's Parliament alleged that Hunter Biden his partners enriched themselves through Burisma Holdings using money that was stolen from Ukrainian citizens.
Hunter was appointed as a member of the board at the notoriously corrupt Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings in April 2014.
He assumed the position just months after his father had been named the Obama administration’s point man for Ukraine, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Biden’s compensation was around $50,000 per month, an official with ties to Burisma told The Journal.
Hunter's position with the company ended in April this year, which is the same month Joe Biden announced his 2020 presidential candidacy.
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Over the course of the five years that Hunter Biden was on the Burisma board, he would have earned $3 million in compensation, according to Western Journal.
Ukrainian Member of Parliament Andriy Derkach stated that the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has reason to believe Burisma’s owner Mykola Zlochevsky obtained the funds paid to Biden and his associates by “criminal means.”
“The PGO document once again confirms the data I had previously published on Burisma and international corruption,” Derkach said at a news conference in Kiev, according to Interfax-Ukraine.
"According to Zlochevsky’s suspicion notice, Biden and partners received their $16.5 million for their services to Burisma."
“Biden received funds not due to the successful activity of Burisma or for brilliant business decisions or recommendations,” the member of parliament said.
"This is the money of Ukrainian citizens. The funds were obtained by criminal means. That’s what they say in the PGO."
A top #Ukraine government official has announced during a press conference that he has documentation, that he says, proves former Vice President #JoeBiden was paid $900,000 to lobby for his son, Hunter Biden's Ukranian company, #Burisma.
— Neon Nettle (@NeonNettle) October 10, 2019
READ MORE: https://t.co/VHQbAfj2wD
Derkach went on to detail, based on investigative journalist reports, that Zlochevsky laundered funds from the Yanukovych criminal organization in Ukraine through three companies in Latvia.
Derkach pointed out that Ex-Prosecutor General Viktor Shokin had repeatedly been in contact with the National Anti-corruption Bureau of Ukraine in the context of criminal proceedings regarding Burisma.
Shokin’s activities caught Joe Biden’s attention during his visit to Kiev in December 2015.
When he returned in March 2016, the then-vice president demanded Shokin be fired by the time Biden left the country six hours from then, or Ukraine would not be receiving U.S. aid.
Joe Biden at the Council on Foreign Relations:
— Michael Coudrey (@MichaelCoudrey) September 26, 2019
"So I said to Poroshenko (Ukrainian President) & Yatsenuk (Ukr PM):
If you don't fire the prosecutor investigating my son, we're going to withhold the $1 billion in aid."
Would be a shame if this went viral! pic.twitter.com/Wd1x7tsFFn
“The instrument issued for pressure was the $1 billion credit guarantee that the United States should have provided to Ukraine: Biden himself acknowledged the pressure in his speech to the U.S. Foreign Relations Council in January 2018,” Derkach said.
The lawmaker also stated from May 2014 to October 2015, Burisma transferred $4.817 million to Hunter Biden’s investment company Rosemont Seneca Partners, which made a payment to him of $871,000.
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RealClear Investigations reported that a watchdog group determined Biden received “more than 12 times comparable board pay at similarly sized companies.”
GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York noted that multiple witnesses who have appeared before the House Intelligence Committee’s impeachment inquiry have agreed that Hunter Biden’s position on the Burisma board, while his father oversaw Ukraine policy, raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest.
VERY IMPORTANT FACTS:
— Rep. Elise Stefanik (@RepStefanik) November 19, 2019
✅Both witnesses confirmed that defensive lethal aid was provided to Ukraine by President Trump, not President Obama.
✅Both witnesses confirmed that Hunter Biden serving on the board of Burisma had the appearance of a conflict of interest. pic.twitter.com/EWe4uREXIN
She said that “every witness who has testified and has been asked” confirmed it had the appearance of a conflict of interest.
