Court upholds case against Hunter Biden's Chicom buddy
A federal appeals court upheld the criminal convictions against Patrick Ho, a Chinese businessman and think tank leader linked to President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, as the younger Biden has recently been revealed to be under federal investigation, potentially in connection to his Chinese business dealings.
When Ho, one of Chinese energy tycoon Ye Jianming’s lieutenants, was charged by the Justice Department in 2017, the first call he reportedly made after his arrest was to Joe Biden’s brother, James, who has said he thought the call was meant for Hunter Biden. Ho was indicted and convicted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for his role in a global money laundering and bribery scheme aimed at government officials in Africa. The Justice Department also accused Ho of helping with Iranian sanctions evasion and working to use the Chinese company’s connections to sell weaponry to Chad, Libya, and Qatar. Ho was sentenced to three years in prison in March 2019 and was deported to Hong Kong in June. Ho had tried reaching out to Joe Biden's son for help because he agreed to represent Ho as part of his efforts to work out a liquefied natural gas deal worth tens of millions of dollars with Chinese Communist Party-linked CEFC China Energy leader Ye, who has since disappeared in China.
A three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit issued a 52-page opinion written by Judge Richard Sullivan. Ho unsuccessfully appealed his convictions for conspiracy, money laundering, and violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act after a December 2018 jury trial. The appeals court judges noted that Ho claimed that “the evidence was insufficient to support his FCPA conviction,” that “the wires at issue in his money laundering conviction did not go ‘to’ or ‘from’ the United States as required to convict,” and that “the district court abused its discretion in admitting certain evidence at trial.” The judges said that “we reject each of Ho’s arguments and affirm the district court’s judgment in all respects.”
A Senate Republican report from September concluded that “Ye raised concerns with Hunter Biden that one of his associates, Patrick Ho, was under investigation by U.S. law enforcement” in 2017 and “Hunter Biden subsequently agreed to represent Ho.” In August 2017, CEFC Infrastructure Investment “wired $5 million to the bank account for Hudson West III,” linked to Hunter Biden, and “the same day the $5 million was received, and continuing through Sept. 25, 2018, Hudson West III sent frequent payments to Owasco, Hunter Biden’s firm.” Those payments “were described as consulting fees” and reached $4.79 million in just over a year. In addition, in March 2018, a $1 million payment was sent from Hudson West III to Owasco with a memo line for “Dr Patrick Ho Chi Ping Representation.” The report stated that “in his alternative explanation, Hunter Biden indicated that the misdirected $1 million was related to his representation of Ye’s associate, Patrick Ho.” It is not clear what legal work Hunter Biden provided to Ho.
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“The evidence at trial established that Ho used his position as an officer or director of a U.S.-based non-governmental organization to engage in two bribery schemes for the benefit of China CEFC Energy Company … CEFC Energy funded a non-profit NGO in Hong Kong known as the China Energy Fund Committee … That entity, in turn, funded a non-profit U.S. entity, China Energy Fund Committee Inc., which was incorporated in Virginia, where it had an office, and which used a suite affiliated with CEFC Energy in Trump World Tower in New York,” Sullivan wrote.
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I think Joe Biden was also implicated in a deal with CEFC where he was described as the "Big Guy" who was supposed to get a percentage of the deal. Do you think the Democrats in the House will investigate the connection for a possible impeachment of Joe Biden? Probably not. They appear to be as corrupt as he is.
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