Hunter Biden’s business partner helped deliver military vehicles to Putin-backed forces invading Ukraine, a report by transparency activists claims.
Kazakh oligarch Kenes Rakishev, who sent Hunter $142,300 to buy a Porsche in 2014, hired him as a consultant to invest millions in the US, and was even photographed having an intimate encounter with Joe Biden, according to emails , documents and those of their friend Devon Archer. congressional testimony.
Rakishev, 44, is reportedly a co-owner of Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering (KPE), which makes Arlan mine-resistant armored platform vehicles (MRAP), according to a new report from the transparency group the Kazakhstani Initiative on Asset Recovery (KIAR), based on the leaked e emails from Rakishev.
The tank-like armored trucks were spotted on the streets of Mariupol in April 2022, driven by Chechen troops who invaded Ukraine alongside Russian forces.
Kenes Rakishev (left), a Kazakh businessman worth more than $950 million who became friends and business partners with Hunter, is seen in a photo with Hunter, Joe Biden and Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov
Rakishev reportedly owns a company that makes mine-resistant armored vehicles that were piloted by Chechen troops that invaded Ukraine
Hunter’s former business partner Rakishev has come under the spotlight of the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into the Biden family’s shady business dealings, with his payments to Hunter and meetings with Joe described in a new memo released by the committee Wednesdaybacked by subpoenaed bank details.
Rakishev hired Hunter as a consultant to invest millions in the US and sent him $142,000 to buy a Porsche
Rakishev has co-owned the company since 2015, along with a South African defense contractor, Paramount Group, according to KIAR’s report.
His alleged ownership was previously hidden behind a complex corporate structure, but has now been revealed after his emails were leaked.
The Kazakh businessman, reportedly worth more than $300 million, has close ties to his country’s military. His father-in-law Imangali Tasmagambetov was the former defense minister and was on the board of another company that supplied military trucks to Russia, the report said.
The Arlan armored truck manufacturer, KPE, has denied any close ties to the Russian military, saying they gave one Arlan vehicle to Putin’s National Guard in 2019, but that “further cooperation with the Russians has not continued.” .
They also claimed that “Kenes Rakishev and Imangali Tasmagambetov have nothing to do with the venture.”
But KIAR’s report, based on company data and Rakishev’s leaked emails, says he controlled two companies that own KPE: KazPetroMash and InterTechAudit.
Emails in Cyrillic reportedly show Rakishev approving transactions from the two firms.
In April 2012, Devon Archer sent Hunter an email with the subject line “Kenes Rakishev meets NYC” and talked about his plans to meet with the oligarch to discuss business.
Hunter’s business partner and former “best friend in business” Devon Archer testified to the House Oversight Committee that Rakishev met Joe and his son at the Café Milano restaurant in Washington DC in the spring of 2014
The head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who is under US sanctions for his involvement in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, was quoted in a July 2016 article as saying “my dear brother Kenes Rakishev who has always been a patron of our important projects’. Russian language news site Grozny-Inform.
On March 17, 2022, Kadyrov posted a video on the Russian social media site VKontakte shows the storming of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, including a shot of an Arlan armored car allegedly sold by Rakishev’s company.
A November 2022 report from military news site Oryx claimed that Chechen forces “contain a small number of Arlan MRAPs (South African-designed Marauder MRAPs) from Kazakhstan.”
A photo obtained by KIAR shows Joe, Hunter, Rakishev and then-Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Massimov in an intimate encounter.
Hunter’s business partner and former “best friend in business” Devon Archer testified to the House Oversight Committee that Rakishev met Joe and his son at the Café Milano restaurant in Washington DC in the spring of 2014.
Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen Republic, is pictured to Rakishev’s right in an undated photograph. Kadyrov is under US sanctions for his involvement in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
Rakishev and Kadyrov are depicted together. A July 2016 article on the Russian language news site Grozny-Inform quoted Kadyrov as saying “my dear brother Kenes Rakishev who has always been a patron of our important projects.”
In April, Rakishev sent $142,300 to Rosemont Seneca Bohai, a company owned equally by Hunter and Archer, the First Son’s former boyfriend said.
Archer alleged that Hunter sold Biden’s “brand” to his foreign business partners, expanding his political clout by having Joe speak on speakerphone during meetings with Hunter’s business partners.
In a press release Wednesday, along with the House Oversight Committee’s memo on Rakishev’s payments to the First Son, Republican committee chairman James Comer said Hunter sold access to the president.
“During Joe Biden’s vice presidency, Hunter Biden marketed him as ‘the brand’ to reap millions from oligarchs in Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine,” Comer said.
It appears that no real services have been provided other than access to the Biden network, including Joe Biden himself. And Hunter Biden seems to have delivered. This is made clear by meals at Café Milano, where then-Vice President Joe Biden dined with oligarchs from around the world who had sent money to his son.
It is clear that Joe Biden knew about his son’s business dealings and allowed himself to be sold as ‘the brand’ to enrich the Biden family while he was Vice President of the United States. The House Oversight Committee will continue to follow the money trail and obtain witness statements to determine whether foreign actors are targeting the Bidens, whether President Biden is compromised or corrupt, and whether our national security is under threat.”