Influence firms working for Chinese companies and Arab monarchies are among the approved recipients of coveted COVID-19 aid, according to a Foreign Lobby Report analysis of Washington, DC-area loan data that the Small Business Administration (SBA) made public today.
In all a dozen Washington firms representing foreign clients were approved for loans between $18 million and $39 million in low-interest Paycheck Protection Program loans made available under the $3 trillion relief package that passed Congress in March.
Two firms, APCO Worldwide and law firm Wiley Rein, were approved for loans in the top range of $5 to $10 million. Another two, DCI Group AZ and law firm Miller & Chevalier Chartered, were approved for loans in the range of $2 to $5 million.
Here’s the breakdown of all the firms and their clients:
$5 million to $10 million
- APCO Worldwide, one of the largest public relations firms in the United States, is registered as a foreign agent for Bahrain’s Economic Development Board under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). It is also a registered lobbyist under the Lobbying Disclosure Act (LDA) for British e-commerce website Kelkoo.com (UK), Ukrainian titanium mining company The Production and Commercial Company Velta, a Pennsylvania subsidiary of Ikea-linked Interogo Holding and the North American subsidiary of Chinese shipping company COSCO. APCO’s loan was approved April 15 and was meant to retain 316 employees.
- Law firm Wiley Rein is registered under the LDA to lobby for Kuwait-based private equity firm KGL Investment. Its loan was meant to retain 493 employees and was approved April 28.
$2 million to $5 million
- DCI Group AZ is registered under FARA as an agent of Georgia’s governing party, Georgian Dream – Democratic Georgia. Its loan was approved April 14 and was meant to retain 96 employees.
- Law firm Miller & Chevalier is registered as a foreign agent of the government of Bahrain under FARA. Its loan was approved April 6 and was meant to retain 148 employees.
$1 million to $2 million
- Van Scoyoc Associates is registered under FARA as a foreign agent for the local government of the Rongelap Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The firm’s loan was approved June 8 and was meant to retain 63 employees.
- Law firm Harris, Wiltshire & Grannis is registered as a law firm working on the proposed US-UK trade agreement for the United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade, as we first wrote about here. Its loan was approved April 7 and was meant to retain 52 employees.
- Law firm Hausfeld is registered under FARA to represent a group of international environmental youth activists. Its loan was approved April 6 and was meant to retain 82 employees.
$350,000 to $1 million
- Levick Strategic Communications‘ loan was approved April 15 and was meant to retain 20 employees. The firm is registered under FARA as an agent for two foreign clients: China Telecom (Americas) and fugitive financier and accused 1MDB financial scandal mastermind Jho Low.
- West Wing Writers‘ loan was meant to retain 49 employees and was approved April 8. The firm is registered under FARA as a foreign agent for Choi Moon-soon, the governor of South Korea’s Gangwon province, as well as the Royal Court of Jordan.
$150,000 to $350,000
- Blue Star Strategies is registered under FARA as a foreign agent for Abdul Sattar of the Bangladesh National Party and Azerbaijan’s Nizami Ganjavi International Center. The loan, approved April 15, was meant to retain seven employees.
- The Fratelli Group is registered under FARA as an agent for the governments of Colombia, Japan and Singapore. Its loan was approved April 11 and was meant to retain eight employees.
- Law firm Saltzman & Evinch registered this week as a foreign agent for Turkey, as we first reported here. Its loan, approved May 3, was meant to retain 10 employees.
In addition, New York firms Finn Partners, Kasowitz Benson Torres and Kobre & Kim were approved for loans in the top range of $5 to $10 million. Finn Partners is registered as a foreign agent for the Jamaica Tourist Board and the United Kingdom’s Department for International Trade, while law firm Kasowitz Benson Torres is registered for the US subsidiaries of Israeli defense companies Rafael, IAI, Controp and RT LTA Systems. Kobre & Kim, a law firm, is registered as a foreign agent for Jho Low.
A number of US advocacy groups also received loans, according to the SBA.
$5 million to $10 million
- The Anti-Defamation League.
$1 million to $2 million
- America-Mideast Educational and Training Services; and
- The United States Association for UNHCR.
$350,000 to $1 million
- The J Street Education Fund, a nonprofit that sponsors trips to Israel for US lawmakers;
- The African Wildlife Foundation;
- American Near East Refugee Aid;
- The CAIR Foundation Inc.:
- The Eurasia Foundation;
- The Israel on Campus Coalition;
- The Middle East Media and Research Institute;
- The Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights;
- The US-Japan Council; and
- The Washington Office On Latin America.
$150,000-$350,000
- The Armenian Assembly of America;
- The Quaker Friends Committee on National Legislation Education Fund;
- The International Campaign for Tibet;
- The Jewish Institute for National Security of America;
- The National Iranian American Council;
- The National Italian American Foundation;
- The Project on Middle East Democracy;
- The US-India Strategic Partnership Inc.; and
- The US-ASEAN Business Council.