Hunter Biden business partner sentenced to prison for fraud scheme

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Devon Archer, a close friend and business partner of Hunter Biden - US President Joe Biden's second son -, received a sentence for defrauding a Native American tribe. 

A New York federal judge said that Archer may go to prison for a year and a day, serve one year in probation, and give up $14 million worth of property. 

Archer gained his reputation - though notorious - when he introduced Hunter to a Ukrainian gas company, Burisma, in 2014. Biden is Archer's partner at Rosemont Seneca, an investment fund firm. 

Both Archer and Biden were on the Ukrainian company's board of directors for years, being paid $83,000 a month. 

The businessman was sentenced for a 2018 conviction for fraud in conspiracy and security regarding his involvement in a bond scheme to defraud an Oglala Sioux tribe and obtain tens of millions of dollars.

The court in 2018 said that Archer and two other defendants conspired to have the Wakpamni Lake Community Corporation issue several tribal bonds, defrauding both the tribe and the bond customers while scooping profits. 

Archer, as well as another defendant, used the bonds to meet capital requirements in broker deals, allocating the profits to buy more companies, according to the Department of Justice, “as part of a strategy to build a financial services conglomerate.”

Though prosecutors recommended 30 months of prison time, Judge Ronnie Abrams cut down that time, attributing the decision to the pandemic. 

Instead of 3 years of probation, Abrams ordered one year instead, in addition to the possibility that the US government may seize up to $14 million in property as a reparation for the tribe. 

It is worth noting that in November 2021, Archer had requested permission to go on 40 international trips since indictment and conviction - and Judge Abrams granted approval.

Hunter investigated over 'Tax Affairs'

This is not the first scandal looming around Hunter Biden this year, as he stated last week that he was under federal investigation for "tax problems" relating to his business transactions in Ukraine and China.

The US president's son, in 2021, said he is "100%" convinced that he will be "cleared of any wrongdoing" in the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation into his taxes.

This came after the president's second son confirmed in late 2020 that he is under federal investigation for "tax affairs" related to business dealings in Ukraine and China, according to Fox News. The network claimed that he had failed to report $400,000 in income from the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings.

"I take this matter very seriously but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisers", the president's son argued in a statement at the time.

The announcement was preceded by a scandal in October 2020, when The New York Times published an article about two emails that the 52-year-old had supposedly received from a top Burisma executive, while serving on the company's board of directors.