NY POST BACKSTORY: Court upholds bribery conviction of Chinese exec Patrick Ho linked to Hunter Biden
By Mark Moore / December 30, 2020 | 12:06pm | Updated
Patrick Ho Chi-ping
A federal appeals court in New York has upheld the bribery conviction of the former chairman of a think tank funded by a Chinese energy company linked to Hunter Biden. The three-judge panel on Tuesday affirmed the December 2018 conviction of Patrick Ho Chi-ping, 70, a former Hong Kong government official, for violations involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act for trying to bribe high-ranking officials in Chad and Uganda.
The bribes were made to secure oil rights and in pursuit of lucrative businesses deals on behalf of the Chinese energy behemoth CEFC, which funded a think tank that touted a “special consultative status” with the United Nations and an office in Manhattan.
Chi-ping was the principal director of the think tank. Ye Jianming, who had ties to the Chinese military and intelligence services, was the chairman of CEFC until he disappeared after being taken into custody by Chinese authorities in early 2018. Documents obtained by The Post show Hunter Biden, the son of President-elect Joe Biden, reached a deal with Ye for half-ownership of a holding company that was expected to provide him with more than $10 million a year for making “introductions.”
Emails reveal how Hunter Biden tried to cash in big on behalf of the Biden Crime Family with Chinese firm Another document included an “Attorney Engagement Letter” executed in September 2017 in which Chi-ping, one of Ye’s top lieutenants, agreed to pay Hunter Biden a $1 million retainer for “Counsel to matters related to US law and advice pertaining to the hiring and legal analysis of any US Law Firm or Lawyer.”
In other correspondence between Hunter Biden and CEFC, Hunter said that any deals struck would be “interesting for me and my family.”
An email sent to Hunter Biden in May 2017 included details of “remuneration packages” for six people involved in an unspecified business venture in which he was identified as “Chair / Vice Chair depending on agreement with CEFC.” The email also outlined a “provisional agreement” under which 80 percent of the “equity,” or shares in the new company, would be split equally among four people whose initials correspond to the sender and three recipients, with “H” apparently referring to Hunter Biden.
It also listed “10 Jim” and “10 held by H for the big guy?” The documents were discovered in a laptop Hunter Biden left in April 2019 at a computer repair shop in Wilmington, Del., and later seized by the FBI.
Joe Biden has not been accused of any wrongdoing and is not the subject of any investigations.
In June 2017, Hunter Biden pressed Ye to “quickly” wire him $10 million to fund a failing business venture, SinoHawk Holdings, which dissolved in October 2018, The Post reported. Hunter Biden 2020 Democratic National Convention/Pool via REUTERS Hunter Biden announced earlier this month that he was under federal investigation for his “tax affairs” and his business dealings in China and Ukraine. The investigations began in 2018 and are examining whether he and his business associates violated tax and money laundering laws.
Chi-ping served 36 months in prison and was deported to Hong Kong after being released in June.
