Hunter Biden isn’t the only Biden family member accused of profiting off his political connections.
James Biden, the younger brother of former Vice President Joe Biden, is embroiled in a big-money loan scandal involving Americore Health, a healthcare provider focused on the acquisition and management of rural hospitals. Americore filed for bankruptcy, allegedly in part because of unfulfilled promises and broken business deals brokered by James Biden.
Former Americore executive Tom Pritchard said Biden promised a large investment from Middle Eastern backers touting his brother’s political status. But as the deals faltered and Americore employees and vendors failed to receive payment for their services, Biden quietly backed away from the now-public controversy.
“It was all smoke and mirrors,” Pritchard told Politico, referring to Biden’s promises.
Biden reportedly worked with Americore CEO Grant White to secure a bridge loan, a short-term loan backed by the promise of longer-term financing. But the promised money from Middle Eastern financiers never arrived, and Biden has yet to repay the loan, Pritchard said.
Although Biden was not named in Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings from several Americore entities this year, he was listed as a “principal” of Americore Holdings, and former executives allege he used his brother’s name to promote opportunities for the company. On Jan. 30, the FBI raided a shuttered Americore hospital in Pennsylvania and the home of White as part of its investigation into the circumstances surrounding the company’s bankruptcy filing on Dec. 30, 2019.
An attorney for James Biden declined to comment for the report, and an official for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign said the former vice president never discussed Americore with his brother or conveyed support for it.
James Biden joined Americore in 2017 and worked to secure financing for the company, including a bridge loan from Michael Lewitt’s hedge fund, the Third Friday Total Return Fund. Pritchard alleges Biden was paid a six-figure sum out of that bridge loan, and although Pritchard was anxious about the financing plans at the time, Biden’s promises outweighed his skepticism.
“He could get us in front of the unions. He could get us in front of certain people in government. He could get us in front of the right people,” Pritchard said.
In February, Americore Health LLC listed assets including $650,000 repayable to its account, which Pritchard said was the loan due from Biden. Pritchard claimed that once he received the loan, Biden became increasingly less visible in the company’s dealings as bankruptcy loomed, hoping to shield his brother from bad press ahead of a presidential bid.
Another former executive, who asked to remain anonymous, said Biden often spoke of how his brother’s political presidential campaign could help Americore’s business model grow.
“His brother was very interested in rural healthcare and very interested in veterans’ healthcare, and it was something he really wanted to get behind,” the former executive said. “This would help his brother get elected if it were to take off and go.”
All of this comes as James Biden faces a lawsuit in Tennessee in which Michael Frey and his wife, Natalie Frey, accuse him of swindling their idea for turning rural hospitals into one-stop shops for mental and physical health centers. The Freys said Biden used his star-power to convince the two to hand over blueprints of their business model, all while promising financing that never arrived.
The FBI is investigating terrorist threats against the Freys, who received a blood-stained currency note of Middle Eastern origin only days after filing suit against Biden.
White, who was originally named in the suit, was removed from the filings in February after he provided electronic data proving he was a victim of Biden, not a co-conspirator in the alleged fraud. The suit against Biden alleges that “millions of dollars in funds may have been taken by these defendants outside of the ordinary course of business.”
