The Kushner Family’s Company Is Being Investigated Over Use of a Controversial Visa Program

U.S. regulators and prosecutors have requested information from the real estate development business run by Jared Kushner’s family over a program that allows wealthy foreigners to obtain visas for investing in American projects, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and prosecutors for New York’s Eastern District issued subpoenas to Kushner Cos. in May seeking details about its use of what’s known as the EB-5 program, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the requests weren’t public.

Jared Kushner is a senior adviser to President Donald Trump and is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, who’s also an assistant to the president. Kushner was chief executive officer of Kushner Cos. until he stepped down and divested some of his investments to family members when he joined the administration.

Christine Taylor, a Kushner Cos. spokeswoman, said in an emailed response that “as we said months ago, we are cooperating with all government requests for information about our past legal use of the EB5 program.” SEC spokeswoman Judith Burns didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment. John Marzulli, a spokesman for the Eastern District of New York, declined to comment.

It couldn’t be determined what the SEC is reviewing, and the agency hasn’t accused Kushner Cos. of any wrongdoing. The SEC subpoena was reported earlier Saturday by the Wall Street Journal, which also published a story in August on the subpoena issued by New York’s Eastern District.

EB-5 Program

Last year, Kushner’s sister, Nicole Meyer, touted her brother’s White House role as she urged Chinese investors to fund a New Jersey housing development through the EB-5 program.

EB-5 offers foreigners green cards — permanent residence — in exchange for investing $500,000 in certain U.S. businesses that create at least 10 jobs per investor.

While Kushner Cos. isn’t publicly traded, the SEC has oversight of the EB-5 program because the investments can be deemed securities transactions under federal laws. The agency has previously brought enforcement actions against developers that it accused of raising money through the program and then using the proceeds for personal use, instead of financing development projects.