The FBI has begun to investigate Ivanka Trump’s business dealings, along with the financing of the year-old Trump International Hotel and Tower in Vancouver, British Columbia, CNN reported Thursday night.
The network said it is not yet clear “why investigators are examining this particular deal.” Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump were on hand for the opening ceremonies of the hotel exactly one year ago.
“The timing of the deal — as one of the few Trump-branded properties to open since Trump took office — could be of interest,” reported CNN.
The 63-story hotel has been controversial, criticized by Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson as not in keeping with his inclusive, multicultural city. A Mexican-born construction worker made his way to the top during construction and unfurled a Mexican flag.
“The flow of foreign money, either from the developer or international condo buyers, could also be sparking scrutiny,” CNN speculated.
The hotel is not owned but managed by the Trump Organization. It is owned by the Holborn Group, a Vancouver-based subsidiary of Malaysia-based TA Global. With a design from famed late architect Arthur Erickson, the hotel is situated on West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver.
The Trump Organization collected $5 million in royalties and was paid $21,500 in management fees during 2017, according to President Trump’s disclosure filings.
Ivanka Trump is seeking a full security clearance in her role as an adviser to her father. At closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics last week, she briefed South Korean officials on the latest round of U.S. sanctions against North Korea.
Before the 2016 election, however, Ivanka Trump was involved in the design of the Vancouver hotel, and a spa at the hotel bears her name. She was not present at the opening, having gone on leave from the Trump Organization when her father was about to take office.
This week, The New York Times and Washington Post carried stories that husband Jared Kushner is under investigation, after it was revealed that the Kushner real estate empire received more than $500 million in badly needed loans after senior corporate executives of the lenders met with Kushner at the White House.
The Holborn Group is run by Joo Kim Tiah, son of Tiah Thee Kian, a Malaysian billionaire.
Postmedia, which owns the Vancouver Sun and The Province, has used assessment and land title records to track U.S. tech billionaires and other buyers of condominiums at the tower.
“The Vancouver development … highlights the potential for conflict for a sitting president who has refused to sever ties with his still-expanding business empire,” the Financial Times of London reported after the Vancouver Sun listed the owners.
“Like some of Mr. Trump’s other properties, the Vancouver development raises the risk of violating the emoluments clause in the U.S. Constitution prohibiting elected officials from receiving benefits from foreign governments.
“The hotel also invites scrutiny of his business partners such as the elder Mr. Tiah, who was convicted of providing a false report to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.”
A Trump-branded hotel in Toronto has changed its name and ownership since the president took office. The Holborn Group rejected calls by Vancouver officials and activists to remove the Trump name from the hotel.
Donald Trump did visit Vancouver when plans for the hotel were announced.
