Kushner’s sister pulls out of China investor meetings, amid controversy over visas-for-sale scheme

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Nicole Kushner Meyer (third left), the sister of US White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, poses at a promotional event in Shanghai on May 7. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:05am, 12 May 2017Updated: 12:00am, 12 Apr 2019

The sister of White House adviser Jared Kushner won’t be attending an investor conference in China this weekend as scheduled, after she was criticised for trying to raise money there last weekend using the lure of a US visa program.

Nicole Kushner Meyer, who had been representing her family’s company in China, came under fire for what critics say was an attempt to attract investors using the family’s ties to White House.

Meyer mentioned her brother at a conference in Beijing on Saturday. Marketing materials for the event also promoted her as Jared’s sister, and cited the Kushner family’s “celebrity” status.

The family real estate company, Kushner Companies, later apologised. It said Meyer had not meant to attract investors by using her brother’s name.

The site of the One Journal Square luxury apartment project stands in Jersey City on May 9 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Photo: AFP

The Kushner Companies said Thursday that no representative will be attending conferences in China this weekend. The Washington Post earlier reported that a Chinese website had listed Meyer as planning to attend an event in Shenzhen on Saturday.

The family company is trying to raise money to help build a 79-story apartment building in Jersey City, New Jersey, called One Journal Square. The company is seeking 300 wealthy Chinese to invest a total of US$150 million.