Prosecutors within the US tax criminal case against Hunter Biden accuse him of accepting payments from a Romanian businessman who attempted to “influence US government agencies” in reference to a criminal investigation in Romania.
The US Department of Justice made this allegation on Wednesday in a temporary in federal court in Los Angeles, where the son of US President Joe Biden is attributable to stand trial on tax evasion charges on September 9. He has pleaded not guilty.
ABC said the claim was based on Hunter Biden's work for Gabriel Popoviciu, a wealthy Romanian identified within the filing as “GP” who, in response to prosecutors, hired Hunter Biden for legal work in late 2015 when Joe Biden was U.S. vp.
Reuters couldn’t independently confirm whether “GP” is Popoviciu.
Hunter Biden's lawyers didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment. Prosecutors didn’t immediately reply to similar requests. The White House declined to comment. Popoviciu couldn’t immediately be situated outside business hours.
In the filing, prosecutors said they desired to present evidence that Hunter Biden and a business associate “received compensation from a foreign principal who sought to influence U.S. policy and public opinion and to get the United States to investigate Romania's investigation into GP in Romania.”
Hunter Biden and the business partner “were concerned that the lobbying work could have political consequences for the defendant's father,” and Hunter Biden desired to hide the “true nature” of his work for GP, prosecutors added.
GP has been charged with bribery in Romania, the file says.
A federal grand jury calculated Hunter Biden was indicted last December for failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes between 2016 and 2019 while also spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on drugs and various expensive items.
The president's son was also charged with evading tax assessment for the 2018 tax 12 months by filing false tax returns. He is accused of three felonies and other misdemeanors.
Separately, Hunter Biden was found guilty in June by a jury in Wilmington, Delaware, of lying about his illegal drug use when purchasing a handgun in 2018. Sentencing is pending.
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