A former associate of Hunter Biden who oversaw Joe Biden’s personal finances for years told congressional investigators that he lacked visibility into key bank accounts involved in some of Hunter Biden’s major overseas business transactions.
Eric Schwerin — a former Hunter Biden business partner who managed Joe Biden’s personal finances between 2009 and 2017 — told investigating lawmakers that he did not have access or visibility into many of the millions of dollars flowing to Hunter Biden, his associates and family members from foreign transactions, according to a transcript of his Jan. 30 interview with the House Oversight and Accountability Committee and the House Judiciary Committee. Congressional investigators have previously identified Schwerin as “the architect of the Biden family’s shell companies,” entities through which millions of dollars generated by foreign business transactions traveled.
“So the foreign money that the — just so you’re aware — that the Oversight Committee talks about, this $24 million we were able to trace to the Bidens and the Biden business associates and $15 million that we traced to the Bidens, primarily most of it, almost all of it, goes into these four bank accounts where you did not have visibility. So it’s fair to say that, while Hunter Biden was operating Rosemont Seneca Advisors, Rosemont Seneca Partners, Seneca Global Advisors, you had access and visibility into those, but you did not have access and visibility into Rosemont Seneca Bohai, Rosemont Seneca Thornton, the Lion Hall Group, or … Robinson Walker, LLC,” an investigator asked Schwerin, according to the transcript. “You didn’t have access and visibility into those, correct?”
“Correct,” Schwerin responded.
Schwerin Transcript by Nick Pope on Scribd
Some of those entities were involved in Hunter Biden’s dealings with foreign oligarchs and interests, as investigators alluded to in their line of questioning. For example, Rosemont Seneca Bohai and Rosemont Seneca Thornton were involved in receiving and transferring approximately $3 million to Hunter Biden and others from the then-richest woman in Russia in 2014, and a Kazakh oligarch wired Rosemont Seneca Bohai funds that Hunter Biden later used to purchase a luxury vehicle that same year, according to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Robinson Walker, LLC — an entity owned by Hunter Biden associate Rob Walker — had received about $3 million from Romanian businessman Gabriel Popoviciu as of May 2017, and more than $1 million subsequently flowed to accounts controlled by members of the Biden family, according to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
Schwerin “[managed] the books” and performed “administrative tasks” free of charge for Joe Biden while he served as vice president, an undertaking that Schwerin described as a “favor” during the interview.
Joe Biden used a fake name to exchange over 50 emails with Schwerin, with many of the exchanges occurring in the spring of 2014, Schwerin confirmed during the interview. Schwerin maintained his position that Joe Biden did not receive any proceeds from his son’s dealings, to the extent of his knowledge.
The White House did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Nick Pope on March 18, 2024
