Devon Archer

Devon Archer is an American businessman and entrepreneur who was a venture capital and private-equity fund investor. He was a founding board member of BHR Partners,[1] a Chinese investment company, in 2013.

From April 2014 to October 2019, Archer and his business partner Hunter Biden served on the board of Burisma Holdings, one of the largest private natural gas producers in Ukraine.

Early life

Archer is from Long Island, New York. In 1992, he graduated from North Shore High School in Glen Head, New York, then attended Yale University from 1992 to 1996 on a lacrosse scholarship.[2] He was the roommate of John Kerry's stepson, Christopher Heinz while both were at Yale.[3] Archer worked as a senior adviser to the John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign, co-chaired the campaign's national finance committee, and as of 2014, was a trustee of the Heinz Family Office.[3] Archer is married and has three children.[2]

International investor and financier

In 2008, Devon Archer and Hunter Biden co-founded the U.S. investment advisory company Rosemont Seneca Partners. Rosemont Capital, a private-equity firm co-founded by Archer and Christopher Heinz in 2009, owned 50% of Rosemont Seneca Partners.[3][4]

According to The New York Times, "during Joe Biden’s tenure as vice president, firms run by Biden and Archer "pursued business with international entities that had a stake in American foreign policy decisions, sometimes in countries where connections implied political influence and protection.""[5]

BHR Partners
Main article: BHR Partners

Archer, Biden, and Chinese financier Jonathan Li founded the China-based private equity fund BHR Partners in 2013.[6][7] Through Rosemont Seneca Partners, Archer and Biden each held 10% equity in BHR.[8] US-based Thornton Group LLC had a 10% equity stake, and asset managers registered in China owned the rest.[8][9] The Chinese-registered asset managers are the Bank of China (via Bohai Industrial Investment Fund Management) and Deutsche Bank-backed Harvest Fund Management.[10]

The New York Times reported that BHR Partners advised a Chinese state-owned enterprise in its acquisition of an Australian mining company, assisted a subsidiary of a Chinese defense company to buy a Michigan auto parts manufacturer, and facilitated the purchase by a Chinese firm of a highly productive cobalt mine in Democratic Republic of Congo for US$3.8 billion. A former BHR board member told the Times that Archer, Biden, and the other American partners of BHR were uninvolved in the mine transaction.[1][11][12]

Burisma Holdings

In April 2014, Burisma Holdings chairman of the board Alan Apter asked Archer to join the board of the company; Biden was appointed to the board in May 2014.[3] Burisma Holdings is owned by Ukrainian oligarch and former politician Mykola Zlochevsky.[13] Christopher Heinz, John Kerry's stepson, was not involved in advising Burisma due to his concern about the associated reputational risk.[14]

In 2019, a conspiracy theory arose that Joe Biden had engaged in corrupt activities related to Burisma. In 2023, a congressional committee investigated whether Joe Biden was involved in his son's business affairs and if the two men accepted bribes from Burisma owner Zlochevsky. Archer provided more than four hours of closed-door testimony to committee members on July 31, 2023. Republicans and Democrats who attended later said Archer testified that over the course of 10 years, Hunter Biden put his father on speakerphone about 20 times while in the presence of business associates.[15] Democratic congressman Dan Goldman told reporters that Archer characterized the calls as "all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, 'What’s going on?'"[16] Goldman said Archer testified that Hunter Biden sold the "illusion of access" to his father in business meetings. Republican congressman Andy Biggs said the testimony implicated the president directly and that an impeachment inquiry was necessary. Republican congressman Jim Jordan said the testimony revealed new information but did not elaborate.[17]

Association with Yelena Baturina

In 2014, Russian businessperson Yelena Baturina, the wife of former Moscow mayor Yury Luzhkov, wire-transferred $3.5 million to Rosemont Seneca Thornton. The Washington Post reported in April 2022 that the partners of Rosemont Seneca Thornton had agreed to dissolve the organization before the 2014 wire transfer, though it continued to be operated by Devon Archer to facilitate real estate transactions for central Asia investors. Archer received the $3.5 million wire from Baturina to purchase property on her behalf in Brooklyn, New York.[18][19]

Oglala fraud

In 2014, Archer and his associates urged the Oglala Lakota Nation, a Native American tribe, to issue $60 million in economic-development bonds. Archer and his associates then used the funds from the bond sale for themselves, instead of investing the money for the benefit of the Oglala community.[20] For example, Archer illegally transferred $20 million of the proceeds through his real estate company, Rosemont Seneca Bohai LLC "to satisfy the net capital requirements of two other Archer-controlled companies".[21]

A federal jury in Manhattan convicted Devon Archer for defrauding the Oglala Sioux community of $60 million in bond-sale proceeds in 2018. In 2019, U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams overturned the verdict and ordered a new trial for Archer. In October 2020, "Federal prosecutors appealed the judge’s decision to the New York-based Second Circuit... the panel of judges ordered that Mr. Archer be sentenced on the charges."[20] On February 28, 2022, Archer was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for defrauding "a Native American tribe to issue $60 million in economic-development bonds and then diverting the proceeds for his own use."[20][22]

Archer has also been ordered to make restitution of over $43 million to the Oglala Sioux.[23]

References
  1. Forsythe, Michael; Lipton, Eric; Searcey, Dionne (November 20, 2021). "How Hunter Biden's Firm Helped Secure Cobalt for the Chinese". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  2. Doescher, Tiana Lowe (31 July 2023). "Hunter Biden on GOP witness Devon Archer: 'Self-made, supermotivated,' with 'disarming charm'". Washington Examiner. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  3. Sonne, Paul; Grimaldi, James V. (14 May 2014). "Biden's Son, Kerry Family Friend Join Ukrainian Gas Producer's Board". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  4. Schrekinger, Ben (August 2, 2019). "Biden Inc". Politico Magazine. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  5. Vogel, Kenneth P.; Mendel, Iuliia (2 May 2019). "Biden Faces Conflict of Interest Questions That Are Being Promoted by Trump and Allies". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  6. "Hunter Biden: What was he doing in Ukraine and China?". BBC News. October 23, 2020. Archived from the original on October 29, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2020.
  7. Areddy, James T.; Duehren, Andrew (December 23, 2020). "Hunter Biden's Family Name Aided Deals With Foreign Tycoons". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  8. "About Us: Investment Funds". BHR Partners. Archived from the original on May 16, 2020. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  9. "Will Hunter Biden Jeopardize His Father's Campaign?". The New Yorker. July 1, 2019. Archived from the original on July 10, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  10. Deng, Chao (July 10, 2014). "Bohai, Harvest and U.S. Investment Firms Expand Target for Outbound Fund". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on May 17, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  11. "Hunter Biden's firm helped Chinese company purchase rich cobalt mine in $3.8 billion deal: report". Fox News. November 20, 2021. Archived from the original on November 27, 2021. Retrieved November 27, 2021.
  12. Millward, David (November 21, 2021). "Hunter Biden linked investment firm 'helped' Chinese buy cobalt mine". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on January 11, 2022.
  13. Risen, James (8 December 2015). "Joe Biden, His Son and the Case Against a Ukrainian Oligarch". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 July 2023. When Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. traveled to Kiev, Ukraine...one of the issues on his agenda was to encourage a more aggressive fight against Ukraine's rampant corruption and stronger efforts to rein in the power of its oligarchs. But the credibility of the vice president's anticorruption message may have been undermined...Hunter Biden, 45, a former Washington lobbyist, joined the Burisma board... at the same time [as] one of Mr. Biden's American business partners, Devon Archer.
  14. Sonne, Paul; Kranish, Michael; Viser, Matt (September 28, 2019). "The gas tycoon and the vice president's son: The story of Hunter Biden's foray into Ukraine". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 6, 2019. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  15. Fortinsky, Sarah (1 August 2023). "Democrat Goldman and GOP's Donalds spar over Devon Archer coverage". The Hill. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  16. Brooks, Emily (July 31, 2023). "Democrat downplays Hunter Biden associate Devon Archer's testimony". The Hill.
  17. Amiri, Farnoush (July 31, 2023). "Hunter Biden sold 'illusion of access' to his father, former business partner tells Congress". Associated Press.
  18. Bertrand, Natasha (September 28, 2020). "Trump sought deals with Moscow mayor". Politico. Archived from the original on September 29, 2020. Retrieved September 28, 2020.
  19. Kessler, Glenn (April 8, 2022). "Unraveling the tale of Hunter Biden and $3.5 million from Russia". The Washington Post.
  20. Michaels, Dave (8 October 2020). "Judges Revive Conviction of Hunter Biden's Ex-Business Partner". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  21. "United States v. Archer, 977 F.3d 181". casetext.com. United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  22. "Devon Archer Sentenced To A Year And A Day In Prison For The Fraudulent Issuance And Sale Of More Than $60 Million Of Tribal Bonds". www.justice.gov. Southern District of New York: U.S. Department of Justice. 28 February 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
  23. Freeman, James (2 March 2022). "A Biden Bestie and the Oligarchs". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2023.
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