Sister of top Trump aide makes pitch to investors

BEIJING — Jared Kushner has said that he has stepped away from the day-to-day business of his family’s real estate company while he serves as a senior adviser to his father-inlaw, President Trump.

But Kushner’s relatives are working feverishly to solicit overseas money for development projects in the United States, and they are highlighting their ties to Kushner as they court investors.

On Saturday, Kushner’s sister Nicole Meyer made a pitch to attract $150 million in financing for a Jersey City, N.J., housing development, known as One Journal Square, to more than 100 Chinese investors gathered at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Beijing.

The money would be provided through a much-criticized government program known as EB-5 that awards foreign investors a path to citizenship in exchange for investments of at least $500,000 in U.S. development projects.

Speaking in a ballroom, Meyer said the project “means a lot to me and my entire family.” She mentioned her brother’s service as chief executive of Kushner Cos., the family business from which he resigned in January, saying he had left to serve in the Trump administration.

The project was advertised to Chinese investors as the latest offering from the “star Kushner real estate family.” The project includes two towers, 1,476 luxury apartments and even a medical center for pets.

Kushner, who is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, has become a central voice on China, serving as a conduit between Beijing and Washington. Even as he seeks to keep a distance from the family business in his new role, his persistent ties to the company have come under scrutiny.

He remains the beneficiary of a series of trusts that own his stakes in Kushner Cos. properties and other investments, worth as much as $600 million and probably more.

Government ethics experts have criticized Kushner for retaining an interest in his family business, given his broad White House portfolio, which could affect his financial position. The company has declined to make public a complete list of its equity partners and lenders.

Noah Bookbinder, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the sales pitch by Kushner Cos. in China was “highly problematic.”