Shortly after revelations about a potentially problematic land deal involving James Biden, the FBI raided a health care business connected to the former Vice President’s younger brother and former business partners filed legal complaints that he may have “fraudulently transferred” funds.
On Monday, Politico reported on a January 30 FBI raid of a healthcare business that is raising yet more questions about the financial dealings of the Democratic presidential frontrunner’s younger brother — and points to, as Politico puts it, “potential pitfalls for the former vice president.”
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation raided a health care business linked to Joe Biden’s brother in late January, seizing boxes of documents,” Politico reports. “The raid of an Americore Health hospital represented a deepening of the legal morass surrounding James Biden’s recent venture into healthcare investing at a time when questions about the business dealings of Joe Biden’s relatives, and their alleged connection to the former vice president’s public service, continue to dog his presidential campaign.”
“In the weeks since the raid, two small medical firms that did business with James Biden have claimed in civil court proceedings to have obtained evidence that he may have fraudulently transferred funds from Americore ‘outside of the ordinary course of business,’ and a former Americore executive has told POLITICO that James Biden had over half a million dollars transferred to him from the firm as a personal loan that has not yet been repaid,” the left-leaning outlet reports.
Politico notes that the exact purpose of the raid still remains unclear and that “there is no indication” whether it was related to James Biden. Biden has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, while the owner of the business, Americore, “has faced legal problems and allegations of mismanagement that are unrelated to James Biden,” Politico points out.
However, recent legal filings provided to Politico indicate that the relationship between Americore and James Biden might prove to be problematic for not only him but his frontrunning brother:
But recent filings in ongoing legal proceedings, along with new accounts provided to POLITICO by former Americore executives and others, point to potential pitfalls for the former vice president, painting the fullest picture to date of James Biden’s healthcare dealings and the ways in which they allegedly related to his powerful older brother. In 2017 and 2018, James Biden was embarking on a foray into healthcare investing, telling potential partners, including at Americore, that his last name could open doors and that Joe Biden was excited about the public policy implications of their business models, according to court filings and interviews with former business contacts of James’s.
Tom Pritchard, a former Americore executive familiar with the firm’s finances, told POLITICO that James Biden’s arrival exacerbated Americore’s financial problems. Holding out the promise of a large investment from the Middle East based on his political connections, James Biden introduced Americore’s founder to his older brother and helped land a bridge loan to Americore from a hedge fund, Pritchard said. But then, Pritchard said, James Biden received a six-figure personal loan out of Americore’s coffers while encouraging the firm to take on greater financial liabilities. The cash infusion from the Middle East never arrived, and, Pritchard says, James Biden has not paid back the loan, the terms of which are unknown. (Read Politico’s full report here.)
Politico’s report follows its January 28 report on a 2005 land deal involving Biden’s brother James Biden and Scott Green, who was a staffer in the 1980s and 1990s for then-Senator Biden before becoming a lobbyist. Green’s clients, Politico explains, “benefited from Biden’s support and appropriations requests” both “before and after” the deal with his brother.
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