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570 Chapter 44D The Biden Business Model I normally don’t answer phone calls when I don’t recognize the number to avoid the many zealous real-estate agents and study abroad telemarketers who annoy me at least a dozen times a day. But now as I saw “private caller” on my burner phone no less, I assumed it was a call from one of my Chinese government friends or perhaps a call from abroad. “Wei?” I answered… “Hey Anthony, this is Hunter, how ya doing?” “Sounds like you have a cold Todd, what’s up?” I replied with a smile, always glad to hear from my Canadian friend Todd Hunter who helped me do some technology presentations for my disruptive water pollution technology that works in less than five minutes without any chemicals. “No man this is Hunter Biden, they didn’t tell you I would be calling?” At the time I had completely forgot because up until 3 months ago I never even heard of this guy when a handful of our prospective investors were desperate to do a joint venture with us and David my co-inventor had no interest in the Chinese version of a “Joint Venture” which usually goes like this; Step 1. The Chinese partner will wine and dine you for a few months, flash a lot of cash, introduce you to some big name politicians, their AAA executive offices complete with a wall full of photos (mostly photo shopped of their CEO or President hanging out with
571 China’s top leadership and governors of 10 or more Provinces. In the end they will get you both drunk and laid with some beautiful Chinese girl who will wake up beside you in the morning thanking you for a fun night you don’t even remember. Of course while you were in dreamland or just about to enter or emerge into that stupor zone your photos will be taken with you both naked in bed and the young lady either on top of you or giving you head. Step 2. Once you are convinced they are competent, flush with both cash and connections, they will take you to the Office of Economic Development in Shandi or Tianjin for example to meet with Liu Bo (as in our case) for a tour of empty turn-key warehouse and factory spaces and told “We will give you this space for free and a tax-exempt status for 10 years to ease the burdens of production startup” Already they are trying to get you to build your technology products in China, not merely buy it from your homeland. But everyone likes the word “FREE” so they still have your undivided attention. At this point I must give Liu Bo his due as an incredible salesman as CEO of TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Administration). Eventually you will find out (assuming you grab their bait), that he not only collects a salary from the Central Government, but also takes a slice of every JV pie he gets baked in his EDZ (Economic Development Zone). Step 3. They will propose a 10 or 20-year joint venture agreement to you in English full of non-compete, non-disclosure, and non-circumvention clauses and a disbursement plan that seems fair and equitable with provisions to avoid “net-profit” manipulations, sketchy “accounting and audit cycles”, and other famous Chinese business tricks. In fact, the English version of the Joint Venture will tell you everything you want to hear as a foreign joint venture partner. And of course, upon signing the agreement, numerous government contracts with end users and buyers are already lined up, and they will actually show you a handful worth $10 to $100 million USD. It appears to be a dream come true, but as many foreign businessmen learned the hard way (like the Fellowes paper shredder company and even Yahoo) it will usually turn out to be a nightmare, especially in the case of a high tech deal. It will be the Chinese version of the contract that will contain hidden escape clauses, or some key exemption clause and one line that will put you completely at their mercy “In the event of any dispute the Chinese version of this contract will prevail”.
572 Step 4. But there will not be any disputes for the first year or two, because it will take your JV partner at least that long to learn how your technology and/or process works, get their Chinese executives and staff thoroughly trained in efficient production methods, materials sourcing, and all the related trade secrets and intricacies and become familiar with all the production equipment and its maintenance. This is the “honeymoon” period so to speak and you will be treated like gold and the profits will even be paid out to you just as in the contract as well as your “training and consulting fees” without a hiccup. Step 5. Prepare yourself for anal penetration because now you are about to get fucked. Once the Chinese partner has acquired the working knowledge of your technology of all your equipment used to produce it, they really see no reason why they should share profits with you any longer and will find an excuse to void your JV agreement and in this regard they can be creative. They may claim they have development or located new technology that will make yours obsolete in months, or perhaps some forthcoming government regulations will eat up the profits, or simply that you were accused of sexual harassment of some Chinese staff member and rather than go through the embarrassment of court proceedings they are taking the moral high ground a dissolving the joint venture! No matter what the reason/excuse, you will get a formal dissolution letter from some huge Chinese law firm and should you decide to fight them in court you will shell out $100,000 to some local lawyer as a retainer for naught because when you will be accused of some fake criminal act and your visa will be revoked and you will be deported with a 5-year reentry ban. Unfortunately, your person is required in court to pursue any litigation, so when your case is finally called before a judge and you are not present, your case will be dismissed. Game over. David and I both know the above drill quite well, so we never much paid any attention to the dozens of JV offers that came our way, so six months ago when I met with some investors who were pitching me on the new “Biden Business Model” that “guarantees full funding by the Chinese government” I at first thought it was a scam until they showed me a $2Billion potash fertilizer deal that went down that was facilitated by “Hunters people” including Devon Archer, Jimmy Bulger, and Jason Galanis (two of whom would later be charged and convicted for fraud in federal court in November of 2018 before Judge
573 Ronnie Abrams). So recalling that fertilizer and the A123 Battery deal which basically gave $250 million of MIT technology to the Chinese that Hunter also arranged, I had promised two of my prospective investors that I would at least take a call from Hunter with an open mind. But since he took three months to actually call me, I had already forgotten the matter. “Oh yeah, I was expecting your call 2 or 3 months ago Hunter, so anyway what’s up”? “Well we saw that amazing video of your water pollution tech and wondered why you aren’t rolling in the green by now? He asked. “Actually we’re about to close within a month or two”. I explained. “Well then, that gives us plenty of time to sit down together and make a real deal without having to worry about getting screwed by the Chinese. How about I fly in next week and we together for dinner and drinks and let me lay out what we can do for you.” he beamed. I wasn’t in the mood for a sales job but I tried to be polite and replied, “Just give me the short version now and if my co-inventor is open to it, we can have dinner together next weekend at the Palace.” I could tell he was put off by my reply because he is probably used to a bunch of ass kissers chasing after his “guaranteed funding”, which coming from a foreigner in China actually carries some credibility with the Chinese. He got a little pushy with me but I held my ground so he just began with his pitch… “I have some people that you probably know from your Academy gig and their relatives have plenty of money stashed away in foundations and dormant technology companies. I was told you and my co-inventor want $20 million, is that right?” I decided to go along just so I could get the whole spiel to relay to David. “Actually we want an annual license fee of $20 million and a 20% royalty cut on national sales since just cleaning Lake Taihu or Dianchi will generate a $3-$10 Billion profit. And of that $20 million we will build the plant in Tianjin and run it ourselves at cost plus 10%.” I explained. There was a slight pause after Hunter replied “I see”. Then he came back with, how about we just buy the formulation for $20 million, and then you don’t have to worry about the production end of things? I saw where he was going with the same intent the Chinese investors had, to just buy the technology for cheap and then own the world-wide rights to the technology. I decided to call him on his low ball play and replied “If you are talking about $20 million a month for ten years with a sovereign guarantee from the People’s
574 Bank to guarantee payment, I will run this buy my co-inventor and have him fly in for a meeting next week?” Biden let out a short laugh and replied, “No. I was going to suggest that my group buy the 51% control interest from you guys for $20 million and then let me work out the details with the Chinese on my end, since you haven’t signed a deal after two years of negotiations.” Now it was my turn to laugh, and just told him straight away, that we are not ever going to sell this multi-billion disruptive technology for anything less than an annual license fee and quarterly royalties that are guaranteed – especially in China, Russia, and India, the three biggest world market valued at $1.2Trillion dollars a year since there are seven applications for the tech. He wanted to argue further and pressed again for a meeting. I wanted to remain civil and polite and pretend my intelligence wasn’t insulted so I just ended the conversation with “Well Hunter, I will relay this info to my co-inventor, but he and I are 50/50 partners in China, and I personally am not interested in your basic proposal, so I cannot really recommend it. If my partner wants to consider it, we will get back to for a meeting fair enough? I heard a sigh followed with, “Your making a big mistake Anthony. I have the contacts to make this happen next month, and fix your passport problem too.” He caught me off-guard because only six of my Chinese friends in China knew about my passport problem, and only half of them were government officials. As much as I wanted and needed a new passport, I played it down and lied to him “I’m buying a passport from Cyprus so let’s not mix apples with oranges here Hunter. If you can come up with a real proposal with a fair share of the wealth guaranteed for my co-inventor and I, we will consider it. But we are not selling the formulation ever and that is why we will run the plant, at least for the first five years. At this point Hunter asked for David’s phone number and I declined to provide it. Instead, I told him that “Anything you put in writing that I can also review, I will pass on to my co- inventor, but I have been back-doored too many times in this life so, no I am not giving out contact info, and I’m sure you can appreciate that?” “Yeah, I suppose. Let me give this some thought and see what I can do.” We said good bye and hung up. The following day, I relayed the information to David, only referring to Hunter as “an American guy who claims to have big contacts in China”. Dave told me he was never going to be agreeable
575 to a joint venture and that I handled the call the same as he would. Here is our disruptive water technology that we were proposing to sell to China that unlike the PAC tech they use to hide water pollution at the bottom of lakebeds, actually removes it. Back in 2007, the Chinese government spent $12 Billion dollars to clean Lake Tai in Wuxi (Jiangsu Province) in a process that took more than 8 months that cleaned two meters of toxic sludge on the bottom of the lake where fish lay their eggs, and plants take root. But the surface and first 15 feet of the lake looked and tested “clean” Using our tech, all the toxic pollutants would have been removed for less than half the cost and within 6 months. Here is a video demo of tech that is unedited, and filmed in real time with polluted Yangtze River water https://imgur.com/gallery/mEOGtDf. However, some people at the U.S. Embassy did not want China to solve their water pollution problems, and did not want them to have this water technology and did not beat around the bush in telling me so. In 2012 I was given what could only be called a “scolding” and a warning by a man who called himself “Michael” after being introduced by the Embassy RSO, a big rotund man with a beard in his late 30s they called “Big Ben” who was at least 250 pounds or more. They had gotten my full attention with their warnings and threats even though they admitted that our water tech was not on the restricted ITAR list (U.S. tech banned for export by the U.S. State Department). And most rightfully so since the banned tech has great strategic value or dual purpose military applications, we want to keep out of the hands of our adversaries. I received the same warning about meeting further with Sinopec, CNPC, and CNOOC/COSUL engineers about Hobson Secondary Oil tech I was also representing in INSERT 44A1
576 China, which made a portable truck mounted unit that could recover 6 billion barrels of China’s thickest crude oil that is five times thicker than peanut butter and found in their DaQing, LIaohe, ShenLi, XinJiang, and Bohai oil fields. Zhou Shan, the former Sinopec CEO in Shandong Province arranged multiple meetings as did the Chief engineer from CNOOC. After more than 12 hours of meetings they all agreed that the technology would indeed work down to a depth of approximately 10,000 feet. And with new ceramic coated oil pipe that had far greater heat retention, Russ Hobson and I believe 12,000 feet was feasible. We were in China only because Russ is a proud and stubborn guy rejected the low ball offers he was getting by Haliburton and other American companies who wanted to buy the technology, only to hide it. (Read chapter 36 about Technology Suppression in America). Just like the experience Mike Mansfield and I had in 1992 with Earthguard and the Saudis, Hobson’s technology has the potential to increase world oil production by at least 30% which would cause oil and gasoline prices to drop at least 25 cents a gallon, or maybe even more. This is not what the major oil companies want to see in America. In China however, their huge population requires maximum production of every resource, and so the Chinese government has a different outlook on things. So new tech is always a welcomed blessing and given a thorough evaluation and analysis, sometimes with a hidden agenda copy the tech (if they can) but when they cannot figure things out on their own they will propose a joint venture to obtain the tech for cheap. At least that is THEIR game plan. Here is the HSO tech in the PPT format with an embedded video I used for my many presentations in China: https://hobsonsecondaryoil.com and I also wrote this related editorial http://baltimorechronicle.com/2006/081806GORCYCA.html . I was quite INSERT 44A2
577 During the first week of January of 2018, I received yet another call I never expected that at first alarmed me, until the caller said he was friends of Chuck Arnold and Tommy Gambino Jr. Since he had my private burner number I had to assume he got it from Chuck, my son’s godfather and my good friend for almost 25 years. But still I would be very cautious with this call as soon as I heard him say who his father was, (a famous FBI informant who made headlines a few years ago on 60 minutes relating to some murder cases). After some small talk about the Bermuda Shorts case, in which Chuck was one of 15 or so defendants and one of the few that actually was acquitted of any wrong-doing, I asked him directly, how can I help you xxxxx?”. “Well, my company is doing some political fundraising for some friends back in the states and I understand you have a circle of friends in China that may want a green card and enjoy some good fortune on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets.” Immediately my defense radar bumped up to red alert. In the last ten years the FBI had sent people at me to set me up for various stock fraud proposals (Including Norman Gross from Virginia who wanted me to fly to meet him in South Korea after offering me $1.5 million for a “IR consulting job” he “couldn’t discuss over the phone”). I cut xxxxxx short and jumped in right away with “Look xxxxx, this smells like something illegal, maybe even an inside trade deal, and I have to tell you for the record, I am not at all interested or predisposed to do anything illegal, are we clear on this?” “Relax Anthony, this is 100% legitimate, we just want you to throw some parties for your government friends and we’ll foot the bill for the entire thing at the Bistro, Palace, or maybe even some golfing in Sanya, and we’ll pay you 10% of what we raise. And if we raise more than $10 million from your friends, you’ll get a new passport and a new life too.” Holy fuck I thought to myself, how is it that so many people know about my “passport problem”. Yes, Chuck knew but he promised me to keep it to himself. Once again, I was on red alert and began to sense I was surely being set up for some FCPA criminal charges. As soon as I began making an excuse to get off the phone xxxxx jumped in and said…. Look I know what you are worried about and I’ll tell you right now everything we are doing is 100% legal and we have legal opinions from top law firms in China and the U.S. to back it up. You can easily make a few million dollars just for throwing some fun VIP parties for your Academy friends, and it can help you network too, because you will ask each of your
578 friends to bring a trusted associate who wants a green card.” After hearing the words “100% legal” and “a few million dollars” he had my undivided attention, and I recalled that Chuck had mentioned some of his friends were doing EB5 deals in China (investments that provide green cards for foreign investors). Hell maybe I was just being paranoid after all. Still, when xxxxxx asked me to meet up with him in Chaoyang, I got nervous again and hesitated enough for him to sense I was still uneasy. Without me admitting that I wanted to keep him at arm’s distance, at least until I knew all the details, xxxxx asked “Would you feel better meeting up with my Chinese girlfriend and she can explain most everything because she handles the party arrangements and already referred a few people herself. But she’s beautiful and you have to promise to behave yourself! I agreed to meet with “Feng” at the Kempinski Hotel for dinner since a Chinese national is not likely to be part of some FBI sting operation, and if she was an ABC (American Born Chinese) I would know within two minutes of conversation and just walk away. XXXXX wasn’t lying, Feng was indeed beautiful and very-well dressed in an expensive business outfit that was tailor-fitted to show off her ample curves. “Hi Anthony, I’m Feng but if you prefer English names, you can call me Windy, she greeted me as she extended her hand which I gently shook as her perfume wafted around her. “That smells like Isi Miyake” I said and she smiled and asked “You must either be a playboy or in the fragrance business?” “Neither, I replied, my wife only wears two perfumes and that’s one of them”. I replied. We sat ourselves at a quiet corner table and after I asked her a few questions about Deng Xiao Ping, the Tang and Song dynasties, and her Gao Kao score (the dreaded Chinese university entrance exam) there was no doubt she was born and raised in China, but to be safe I asked to see her China national ID card which she promptly shared with me. I started to explain why I was so cautious, and she stopped me saying she heard about my passport problem. I was now starting to wonder who DIDN’T hear about “my passport problem”! After giving the server our order Feng began with a direct request… “xxxxx and Hunter want you to open a Hong Kong Foundation and it will become the recipient vehicle for donations which will be made from your friends anonymously if they like, or if they need the tax deduction they can use their own personal or company name.” Confused, I replied
579 “What Foundation, for what cause do you want me to raise money?”. “Well she said, officially it will be for a cultural exchange program to exchange historical art and sculptures between the East and West and during the year we’ll even do an auction to sell of some U.S. Civil War art and collectibles in China, and some Chinese antiques and art in America. So your Chinese friends will get some brochures and membership materials to show that their donation was for cultural exchange purposes and can legally disavow any political connection. There will never be any physical or printed mention of President Biden and if they are ever confronted they have what you Americans call “denial causibility”. I corrected her with both Vice President Biden and “plausible deniability” to which she acknowledged. “So they donate moneys to this Foundation and then what”? I asked. “There are many foundations Anthony, not just one. These small foundations will consolidate their funds into one master foundation that will contribute to the Super Pac. None of your people will know who among their friends donated to which foundation because they will use these anonymous debit cards and each card can take up to $1million. For every million they contribute you will be paid a $100,000 facilitation fee either in cash or we can load one of these cards for you.” At this point she was showing me the card seen below and I noticed she had a bundle of 50 of them bound with a rubber band and holding one of my business cards (How and where did they get my card? I didn’t have a clue but had to assume it was from either Chuck or one of my many upscale students they crossed paths with).
580 As you can see from the photos neither side bears any visible information and the magnetic strip supposedly has some special coding on it that can only be read by either ICBC and China Bank (Feng’s cards were equally divided by these two banks in case donors had a preference.) At this point I asked Feng if she had a business card I could have as she shoved the stack of bank cards across the table towards me. I moved them to the side careful not to get my fingerprints on them. She fetched a business card from her purse and presented it to me Chinese style. It was a simple yet elegant card that was printed on both sides with two company names, one in Chinese and another in English with a Hong Kong address and only a mobile number. The English that I could read said “Thornton Group” and “Rosemont Harvest Bohai”. Feng’s title on the card said “VP EB5 Program”. There was no reference to any Foundation or any Beijing office address. I asked her if they had an office in Beijing, and she replied “We have a few, but only one is in our name that we use it for meetings sometimes. But as you know in China, most business is done after hours in hotels, tea houses, spas, and private clubs.” I just nodded. “And what exactly am I supposed to do with these cards Feng?” She leaned over the table and lowered her voice as she said “You are going to give them as gifts at a VIP party that we will host for all of your guests. It will be a party they will never forget and after we pump enough drinks in them our girls will take them into a private KTV room and present them two gifts from you. One of them will be the card which she will tell them is “a green card coupon”. And what’s the other gift” I asked”. Feng just smiled at me and when she saw my puzzled face simply said “Use your imagination Anthony!” We will get Hunter to make an appearance to make a toast and greet everyone,
581 but no photos will be allowed. XXXXX will explain that the Green card will be given in January or February of 2021. But for anyone who donates within 72 hours, they will get some inside stock tips for three months that will enable them to recover at least triple their “donation” on the Shanghai or Hong Kong Stock Exchange. This last comment was making me nervous again and I said so. “Relax Anthony all of this will be told to them in Chinese privately, and nobody will ever be in position to say you ever had any knowledge or conversations about these matters. You are only the host of the party as the Chairman of the Foundation.” “I see” as I tried to hide my uneasiness. “Listen, xxxxxx told me you guys had some legal opinion letters, can I see them? Feng smiled “Sure I don’t see why not, but they are at my apartment. After dinner we can take a drive over to my place and you can have a look ok?” I smiled and nodded in agreement as our food was delivered and promptly devoured. I guess we both had been quite hungry. The Kempinski always has tasty food but their portions seem to always be a kid’s serving. As we were eating Feng received a call from xxxxx. I always pretend I cannot understand any Chinese at all, when in fact, I can understand the basics of most conversations. This always worked in my favor for business purposes. And tonight was no different as Listened to Feng tell xxxxx I was going along with her proposal and that I wanted to see the “lawyer letters. I then discovered xxxxx’s Chinese was worse than mine and someone was translating for him. I heard Feng say, that she expected to make me part of the team tonight and give me the “xiao shu” (“the little book”) to get started. After dinner the valet brought Feng’s black Audi A6 around front, but as soon as got into the car, I realized it could not possibly be her car. It wreaked of cigars. It had to be a man’s car because only drunken Chinese girls puff away on cigars. Feng announced that she lived in Wang Jing which was only a ten-minute drive away on the Northeast side of Beijing that most foreigners call “Korean Town” or “K Town” for short. While driving to Feng’s apartment, my curiosity kicked in and I asked “What if someone donates more than $1 million, do you have some special reward or incentive for them?” “Yes we do, but xxxxx will have to be the one to explain it to you.” “Okay, and what happens if Biden doesn’t win the elections? I asked. “Well the people will still get their green cards so long as a Democrat wins” but for those who donate say, $3 or $5 million, only $1 million is
582 released now and the balance is pledged through a lawyer at the bank and the money won’t actually go anywhere unless and until Mr. Biden gets “.naminoted” to go to the big election.” I corrected her with “nomination” and she smiled, but suggested that after 10 years in China, I should be speaking Chinese by now. Actually, she was right and I apologized to her for being such a lazy Chinese student. Of course she forgave me. But I still had more questions and asked her, “What happens to the big donors who bet on Biden but Trump still gets re-elected. xxxxx and Hunter say that is impossible because Trump is getting “peached”. This time I just stayed quiet, but reminded her that 7 Democrats (at the time) were all competing for the right to run against Trump. Feng just looked at me and said “Don’t worry Anthony, every donor will win something worth much more value than their donation amount. xxxxx will explain the “win-win” guarantee we give to everyone – even you! I just assumed she was talking about my passport. As we pulled into her parking garage I noticed that Feng lived less than 60 yards from the spacey white WangJing Soho building. We took the elevator up to what I think was the 8th or 9th floor and entered her well-decorated apartment that thankfully smelled like sandalwood incense and not cigars! Like most Beijing apartments, Feng’s was small but cozy and clean except for the laundry drying on a line stretched across her living room for which she promptly blamed her visiting guest Ling from Shen Zhen. Feng offered me a glass of wine and asked if I preferred white or red. After I replied “White” she apologized as she retrieved an empty Riesling wine bottle from Ming’s guest room, and replied, “I guess that leaves us with Red” “No worries, I’m not a fussy guy when it comes to wine”. Although that wasn’t true, I was trying to be an easy guest. After we settled down on the sofa, Feng brought an expandable legal folder and started digging through it and began pulling out papers. She handed me about 10 sheets of forms and told me, “These are the papers you need to sign to open the Hong Kong foundation, you only need to sign by the yellow dots and we will do the rest, including the financial statement, bank account info, mission statement and all that other stuff. We just need a certified copy of your passport and a telephone number that someone will answer for you in Chinese, but I suppose we can help you with an answering service, except I think it has to be a registered land line in the name of the Foundation.” As she handed me the bundle
583 of forms with a pen to sign away, I stopped her and reminded her that I needed to see and read the legal opinion letters xxxxx was talking about. “Oh yes! I’m sorry Anthony, I was getting ahead of myself” she apologized as she dug some more through the accordion file. While rummaging through the files she pulled out a small brown address book and tossed it on the table in front of me, saying “This is also for you”, and before I could ask what it was, she told me “These are 178 millionaires in Beijing and Heibei that we want you to invite as guests to some of the parties you throw, because we cannot because of potential “interest conflict legal” which I assumed she meant “legal conflict of interests”. “So there will be more than one party? I asked. “That’s up to you Anthony, the more parties you host, the more money you will make. You can do a golf or yacht party if you like but each party needs to be limited to 50 invited guests and each of them can bring a single guest but not a spouse or lover.” When I asked why not, she explained “xxxxx said we need honeypot insurance in case anyone wants to make a problem for us later”. Again I had to assume she meant “honey trap”. She then told me a short story about a Hebei police chief who tried to extort them for a free green card for all of his family members and how they quickly “solved” the problem with just one Finally, she found the legal opinion letters and handed them to me. One side was in English and the backside was in Chinese and there were two different letters. One was from the huge Greenberg Taurig American law firm, and another was from a former Dean of Peking University’s law school. I began reading the English translations since my written Chinese proficiency is limited to highway signs and about 300 most needed characters. As I read along it seemed to make logical sense saying that all citizens of China and most Asian nations had a legal right to donate moneys to any bonafide charity or cause that does not threaten the stability, security, nor economy of the State. However, it was prohibited for any national of China to donate money to any party (other than the CCP) or candidate without the written permission of the party secretariat. It also went on INSERT 44A3
584 to discuss “blind trusts”, directed donations, and the absence of liability of upon donors if any donated monies were misused by foundations, or if foundations failed to make legal disclosures etc. In short, it was everything a potential donor would want to hear before giving their money away to strangers, especially some “Laowai” (foreigners). But I then noticed that the address line for Greenberg was blurred and having lived in Miami for eight years, I knew my zip codes. Was this a fraudulent letter or just a smear of the toner since I was reading a photo copy. All Miami zip codes begin with “331” not “337”. And it is not uncommon for Chinese to forge business licenses, diplomas, certificates, warranties, etc. I had find a way to graciously ask to see the originals of these documents without offending Feng or her boyfriend. I came up with an idea. “Hey Feng, I will be meeting with Pan Gongsheng from the People’s Bank next week and I need to have certified copies of the originals of these letters and he might be my first client”. Sensing that I was going to cooperate with them, she replied “Okay, hold on, I have to call xxxxx and see where the originals are.” She tried calling xxxxx a few times but grew angry when she kept getting a “power off” recording. I then asked her if anyone else knew where the originals were. She thought for a few minutes and then asked me what time it was in Phoenix or Las Vegas? Before could even tell her that it was about 3am in the morning she was dialing away! She woke someone up named “Danny B” who she later told me was some American that sold a lot of real estate to wealthy Chinese. After Feng apologized about ten times for waking him up she was asking him who had the originals of the legal opinion letters and apparently he wanted some explanation so Feng went into one of the bedrooms to explain the situation to him. When she came out she handed the phone to me and I was getting questioned as if I was caught stealing a bicycle! I reminded him that I was recruited by xxxxxx and I was not going to risk my freedom unless I could verify the legal opinion letters. He finally agreed he would feel the same, and told me to just relax and give him a minute or two and told me to give the phone back to Feng. After I did so, their conversation was less than a minute and then she hung up. Feng was a bit embarrassed but smiled and said the originals were “on the way”.
585 Just then her apartment door opened and I was amazed that any courier could make any delivery so quickly unless they had a Star Trek Transporter! But no, it was not a courier, but rather a very beautiful girl wearing some tight spandex gym outfit underneath a big puffy down coat. Carrying two bottles of white wine. Feng introduced “Ling” to me as her friend from Shen Zhen who came up to Beijing to help with two parties they were arranging and Ling was in charge of getting the “KTV girls” which I think is just a euphemism for “escorts”. Ling pulled down all her dry laundry, left the wine in the kitchen and then disappeared out the door after a brief pit stop in the bathroom. Now Feng’s phone let off a quick beep, and she announced “Here they are!”. Someone had sent her a high resolution scan of the legal opinion letters and when she handed me the phone I can see they were sent by some public notary in “Henderson, Nevada”. These were crisp and clean scans of what appeared to be notarized hard copy originals of the Greenberg Taurig that exactly matched the photocopies shown to me by Feng, without the toner smear. I was now satisfied and relieved that the legal opinion letters were legit. Feng poured me another glass of wine and asked me if she could ask me a personal question that only an American guy could answer. I replied “sure” and then was surprised by what she asked me… “How can you tell when an American guy is cheating on his wife or girlfriend?” She swore it wasn’t her situation and claimed one of her friends got pregnant by either Hunter or one of his friends named Devon and it caused a big problem for everyone because one of the guys had promised to marry her but then just left China and the other promised to “stick by her forever” but also had to go to America for “a temporary legal problem” but had left her a bunch of money to pay her bills but he would not give her a telephone number where she could call him but she kept getting letters from him saying he was traveling. I really couldn’t grasp the whole story but I told her that a lot of American guys are playboys and don’t take relationships very seriously until they are in their late 30s or 40s. But she kept asking me for “signs” of infidelity. I told her what I knew about relationships was limited but the more money a guy has, the less faithful he will probably be. Then she asked me what I would tell her girlfriend, if she was my little sister. After 30 seconds of deliberation, I had to be honest and say, worry about yourself and the baby. Unfortunately, in China, an unwed mother is quickly ostracized and doomed
586 to be a single mom unless she meets a kind and caring foreigner. Feng thanked me for the advice and said she agreed with me and then she poured me another drink and tried very hard to get me to sign the foundation application paperwork. I told her that I needed at least a week to think it all over because I was trying to find a way to get back to Canada. Then something told me to ask her how they knew who my government contacts were as I suddenly got a flashbacks to the three times my home was burglarized but none of my jewelry or cash was taken. But my papers and binders of business cards were left scattered all over my bed and sofa, and whoever was in my house that last time had enough time to smoke five cigarettes, which in my mind equates to at least one hour. We had always assumed that people were looking for the water pollution technology formulation all along, and that is why it never appeared to be a conventional robbery. Feng appeared to be growing uneasy but just then got a call that she took in her bedroom. I had to use the bathroom badly after three glasses of wine. When I got up I felt a bit dizzy but was able to walk without any problems. I picked up the brown address book to browse while I was in the bathroom. As I flipped through it I noticed about 30 numbers were in the New York, Vancouver, and Los Angeles area codes and figured successful Chinese are bound to have second homes abroad. I decided I was going to do some reverse look- up numbers on these 30 U.S. numbers to try to find out what “conflict of interests” Feng was talking about. So I put the book in the inside pocket of my suit jacket and went back out to the living room where Feng had some tears streaming down her face. What’s wrong Feng? She didn’t answer right away and she poured us two more glasses of wine. After 10 minutes, she told me that her pregnant friend was pushed to have an abortion and she just found out she tried to kill herself and was in the hospital. I offered to go to the hospital with her but she said she could not have visitors until tomorrow afternoon unless she was an immediate family member. I said that I had to be going, because it was already 11pm. I realized we had talked almost 3 hours! Feng asked me to stay with her until either xxxxxx came to get her Ling came back because she did not want to be alone. As a veteran AIDS counselor, I know the powerful effects of negative emotions, so I agreed to stay and tried to distract Feng with some jokes and card tricks. It helped a bit to keep her sinking further into the funk zone. Feng
587 When I awoke I was startled to find myself naked in bed next to a shapely Chinese beauty I never saw before in my life! She was not a day over 30 with a body that should be illegal. As she turned to step out of bed, she said “Good morning Tiger”. I was speechless for almost a minute. Finally, I had to ask “Do I know you?” She just smiled, and asked “Does it really matter Anthony?” “Fuck Yes!” I retorted as I searched and found the wet spot stain in the middle of the bed. “Where is Feng and who are you?”. Well, Feng left last night with xxxxx and you didn’t seem to care about my name last night, so why do you care now? Excuse me, I need to take a shower.” She said as she strolled into the bathroom. I was sure I was about to get scammed and the police would show up any minute and I would be accused of rape, a common fraud that targets foreigners in China’s bigger cities. I heard the shower running so I began digging through her purse for clues. I found her wallet wither national ID card and her name was Ming Wei Li or Lai (I can’t remember now) and she was 28 years old. That is all I could find out. I wanted out of there ASAP. I know this sounds strange coming from a guy, but I felt both violated and guilty for being so drunk that I could not even remember having sex with such a beautiful girl. Was I drugged, or was this some bad practical joke? I tried to call Feng but her phone was “power off”. As I examined the “wet spot” I realized it was just water and nothing gooey that could link me to any sexual activity. I was much relieved by e INSERT 44B1
588 Below is the “little book” with 178 names and numbers of Chinese millionaires Feng and xxxxx wanted me to contact on for donations to my new Hong Kong “cultural foundation” which would be one of many I was told are being used to raise money for Joe Biden in China. Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen is home to 82% of China’s 417,687 millionaires (at this time) and another 8% are owners of coal mines in Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia. According to the Chinese Minister of Commerce, China’s economy and stock markets create 120 new millionaires every day, but these numbers do not take into account all the black monies creating probably an equal number including amongst the organized crime “Triads” (Chinese mafia). China has become more like America in many ways, and while corruption may be more obvious in China, in my opinion, it is only marginally greater. INSERT 44B2
589 Roughly a week later, I received calls from two Chinese investors almost begging me to meet with them and Hunter Biden at a local teahouse on the Third Ring Road so I could “just listen to the proposal they had worked out that would guarantee me and my co- inventor a $20 million payday and residual income for ten years”. They had apparently gotten some feedback from Hunter about his unsuccessful bid for a meeting. Although they were persuasive, they kept dodging my key question “Was the proposal a joint venture”. Finally, in frustration, I told them yet again, what I had told them many times before… “My co-inventor will not entertain any Chinese joint venture”. To this, they replied, “Okay Anthony but legally on paper your joint venture agreement will be with a Nevada LLC and Hunter’s people will be the Directors of that LLC so it will not be a Chinese joint venture after all.” I realized this was just a ruse, to put American puppets as their front people, but the Chinese money would ensure that the technology would find its way into Chinese hands and there would be a dissolution of the JV agreement afterward. Growing angry, I just said, if you want the tech you have to buy a license, so please don’t bother us again about ANY JV no matter who you get to front for you! There was an awkward silence before we said good-bye. That would be the last time I heard Hunter Biden’s name. But the very next day xxxxx called me and asked me when and where I wanted to throw my first VIP party? Obviously he assumed that Feng had won me over. In fact, my gut was still telling me that I was being set up. He said he had a $150,000 budget, which in China would throw a very lavish party indeed. He reminded me that my new passport could be in my hands within 30 days if I joined their team, and I wanted so badly to see my family again in Toronto. I was tempted to say “in two weeks at the underground KTV beneath the Palace Restaurant at the Friendship Hotel known for its debauchery and secrecy. But I stopped short, and just replied, “I’m still thinking about it Jimmy, give me another week”. It was clear that xxxxx didn’t like my answer but he just said he would check back with me in a week and for me to start compiling a guest list for invitations to be made and then asked me if I wanted to play some golf with him and “some very interesting friends” on the upcoming weekend. I lied and said I was booked on the weekend for a training seminar in another province and asked for a rain check. We agreed to speak again the following week and hung up.
590 Two days later, I came home from work to find a large envelope under my door with only my first name on the front, apparently hand delivered by someone who actually knew where I lived, which was not many people since my lease was in the name of my best friend, An Hong Xiu, and my internet cable was yet in a different name, as was the water and heat, and the GPS on my mobile phone had been disabled following the McDonalds breakfast incident years ago when I first arrived to Beijing. When I opened the envelop I was temporarily shocked, but ultimately expected something like this would happen. In my hands I was look at a photo of myself naked in bed, on my back, being ridden by the beautiful Ming I met in Feng’s apartment. The expression on her face was one of immense passion for which she could win an Oscar. Although my eyes were closed, only I would know I was drugged and out cold. To this day, always wonder who took the photo and just hope it wasn’t Feng. I’d prefer to remember her as a sweet but naïve girl exploited with the lure of big money less than 1% of China’s population ever get to see. There was no note in the envelope only the hand written name and address of my wife Mississauga, Ontario. They got me by the short hairs. Should I send this photo to my wife myself and explain what took place and preempt their blackmail attempt, or call their bluff? This would require further and careful deliberation. I thought this was so ironic in a way that few would understand. For 5+ years in China I taught “critical thinking” to Chinese in hopes they would build the confidence and skills to solve their own problems independently. Now I had a huge problem to solve of my own in addition to the passport problem that burdened my heart, mind, and soul since 2009. The following week xxxxxx called me expecting me to be cooperative and used the same sales trick I myself used when I sold yachts at Champion Marine in Miami –the assumptive close. But I simply told him flat out “I decided to pass on your generous opportunity xxxxxx, but I cannot afford the risk of some sting operation or another “Chinagate” investigation down the road. And after talking with my wife about some creative photography I found under my door, she suggested we just part as friends”. In reality I did not mention my night at Feng’s apartment to my wife, in fear she did not believe me, and it seemed that my bluff worked with xxxxx, because Linda never mentioned the incident. Xxxxxx graciously said he understood, and we ostensibly did part as friends.
591 But I had another path that crossed with Hunter Biden that took me a while to realize. Many business contacts in China are not visible for a variety of reasons. Government official have businesses on the side which are run by proxies in foreign countries, or through a Hong Kong “foundation” or through a mistress or distant cousin who are paid very well but know they will bill killed if they breach the trust or confidentiality of the official if something goes wrong. I learned about these proxies by a fellow who claimed to be “partners with Jack Ma” (the once-billionaire who became a national hero in China after he ripped off Yahoo for $300 million). In China it is despicably shameful if one Beijinger cheats another, but actually commendable if a Beijinger cheats a foreigner. The attitude is understandable since for almost 200 years before Mao came to power in 1949, eight foreign regimes invaded, occupied, and pillaged billions of dollars of priceless, art works, jewels, and priceless antiques that were up to 3,000 years old at will and were never held accountable by the international courts. Almost every Chinese citizen feels a need for some sort of justice, even if economic revenge is required. Their leadership before Mao was so week and corrupt, Chinese citizens were humiliated by the continuous invasions and massive looting that always followed. So, when my co-inventor David Wensloff and I agreed that we could sell our water- pollution solution to the Chinese without disclosing the ingredients nor the manufacturing process until after the licensing fee was paid in full, I began giving demonstrations like the one you see here: https://vimeo.com/735503676 Although China has almost 20% of the world’s people living within their border, they only have 7% of the world’s fresh water. And since 70% of China’s surface water was heavily polluted, and their growing population made clean water a growing crisis, it would be a no-brainer for them to embrace our technology. But “Ming” and others had other ideas – IP theft. Ming was a quiet but highly intelligent guy who never had a business card to share when he mysteriously turned up at meetings with the Beijing Water Authority and the huge SOE known as Genertech. He would sit quietly in the group, without asking any questions nor commenting at all. But he would use his IPhone to video-tape my 45-minute presentation and demonstration. I wrongly assumed that he simply did not speak nor understand English. But after both meetings Ming would send one of his beautiful mistresses to tell
592 me that Ming wanted a private meeting either at Shan Dou Coffee Shop or the infamous Tea House on 3rd Ring Road which was a favorite meeting place for wealthy Chinese and officials to recruit foreigners to help expatriate their millions to the U.S., Australia, Canada, or the U.K. At both meetings, Ming would try in vain to obtain the “Joint Venture” mentioned above. Ultimately he made low-ball offers to first buy the technology outright for a ridiculous price. At our second meeting he suddenly agreed to buy the 10-year license I had counter-offered. But when I gave him a copy of the license agreement he took photos of each page and sent it to his “lawyer for review” claiming he could not read nor understand written English. Whether that was true or not, we enjoyed one of the better meals I ever had in China and the refused his offer to share a $1,100 bottle of China’s most cherished wine “Mou Tai” which kicked my ass once before at a birthday party my students threw for me and repeatedly toasted me to the point where I don’t even recall how I got home that night after only 5 shots! I do not make the same mistake twice so that brand of “bai zhou” has been forever-banned from my life on Earth. After dinner, I was enjoying my rare New York cheesecake and coffee when Ming’s lawyer called back and apparently gave advice and/or instructions to Ming. After hanging up, Ming informed me in his best Chinglish… “I have good news Anthony. We agree to pay the $10 million annual licensing fee but instead of paying the $2 per ton royalty, we will pay you 10% of the net profits on any project that uses your powder.” This was invitation to get cheated out of the tech for only $10 million which was equal to the profits of a single remediation job. But rather than argue with Ming, I told him I would discuss it with David and get back to him in a few days. I had by now learned from the Chinese never to say “No” outright. They prefer to say “Bu Fangbian” (It’s not convenient). I was obligated to share this offer with David, already knowing he would agree with me to reject the offer. INSERT 44B3
593 David and I also agreed to avoid any further contact with this slick guy who would make a great used car salesman. So when he called me back a few days later to invite me for another fancy dinner, I simply said I was booked solid for the week and shared some fake news with him “Sorry Ming but my partner received a better offer from a group in Shanghai. But we thank you for your interest and hospitality”. Ming was clearly disappointed but asked about the amount of the offer. My reply was yet another lie “David signed a non-disclosure agreement with them, so I can only tell you that the offer was acceptable and almost double of what you offered.” There was silence on the phone and then Ming said “Well then can we buy the exclusive for the rest of Asia?”. At this point I just wanted to end our contact with him so I told him that fictional offer we received required us to give the mystery party a 90-day exclusive first right of refusal for India and the rest of Asia. Ming responded with some comment about our “huge mistake” in Chinese and hung up. Visit: https://vimeo.com/735503676
594 When I met inventor David Wensloff in 2009 I was already in China and david was the CEO and brilliant mind behind Integrated Engineers in Oakhurst, California. http://wecleanwater.com/html/company.htm. He was the original inventor of Floccin, an organic flocculants that could scrub and collect 98% of all contaminants from water that was up to 70% contaminated in less than five minutes. The downside to this magic powder that could clean a metric ton of water for $6 was that the contaminants would sink to the bottom and smother botanical marine life and kill the eggs, of fish and crab as well as clams and oysters growing on the lake and river beds. This sunken sludge would also require expensive dredging and cause even more damage to the marine life. As an inventor myself, I solved this problem by making the sludge float to the surface where it could easily be vacuumed up into a barge or onshore trucks, and never touch ant marine life. I also was able to clean the 98% pure water to 100% with only a 30 cent increase in cost. When I shared this with David, we agreed to become equal 50/50 partners and co- inventors on the China and other International patents. Hunter Biden and his buddy Ming had other plans however. https://web.archive.org/web/20120106193950/http://wecleanwater.com/blog/
595 On April 11th, 2018 there was a knock on my door around 7:30 am as I was about to shave and prepare for a day of meetings and lunch with a buyer for some of my 3D art to be custom made on consignment. It would be a “money day” for me since I would collect a 50% deposit on the new work Fei Fei wanted done, and I would collect the 50% balance she owed on the 3D Wild Horses I did for her last summer when she went to Europe on vacation. When I completed the new work she wanted, I would finally have the extra cash to go home in June, when I planned to “borrow” a 42 foot sloop I spotted at a marina in Tianjin, and sail home to Canada. Although I did not have the owner’s permission, I had noticed that the sailboat had not been used in months and probably would not be missed for at least a month or two. I would leave a note and $25,000 cash for the owner in a sealed envelope with the dock master or marina manager and pretend to be a client who leased the boat for a month. Cash would smooth over any doubts, and I’d be on my way home. All that sailing in Puerto Rico would finally pay off for me and after a two week passage I’d be in Vancouver and soon on a Greyhound bus home to Toronto.
596 I had already bought all the right nautical charts, a portable Garmin GPS, a case of MRE survival food, a solar charging device, a solar still for fresh water, an inflatable neon orange vest, and ELB, and was good to go. My “Slow Boat From China” was certain to work, and I regret that I did not try this first. Had I done so, I would have saved myself a beating and $100,000+ in bribes, and expenses. My grandfather always told me that we learn from our mistakes, and I had better “pay attention, because dozens would be coming my way” Thankfully I heeded his advice as I grew up wiser by the year long after he left us. But I’d have to wait to when the current choppy winter seas would smooth out and be far more favorable for sailing. Below is a sample of my 3D art entitled “For Love Or Money” in which only the background is sometimes flat and all images protrude at least 5-20 centimeters from the surface. This piece sold for $30,000 and got me some publicity in China’s art world. With this double page feature article in China.org See: https://www.china.org.cn/arts/2014-08/04/content_33138599_2.htm But for the moment I had two police at my door who oddly knew my name and demanded to see my cell phone. When I asked why, he claimed that there was a scam targeting foreigners and they were trying to track the hackers and wanted to see if they got into my phone already. I thought it was odd they would being doing this on a Sunday morning,
597 but since he said it would only take 10 minutes to check. I handed him my cell phone. But when he put my phone directly in his pocket without even looking at it, I knew something special was going down, and even suspected this guy was here to take me out and was disguised as a cop. After all, in my long and lucky life, stranger things have happened. One never forgets when people try to kill you five times in three countries. They then demanded that I show them my passport. Before I was allowed to the younger, of the two men “Cloud” (the only name he provided to me in English) said, “If you cooperate your problems will be over quickly and you’ll only miss one or two days of work. But if you tell us that your passport was lost or stolen, you’re going to spend a month in jail, and then be deported, got it?” I nodded and answered “Ming bai” (I understand). Without a doubt I knew I was set up and I immediately asked for my phone to call one of my friends who was the Deputy Director of the Wu Jing in my Haidian District of Beijing. The WuJing in China is the equivalent of our National Guard in America. He and General Liu, a mutual friend in the PLA Army would make these two PSB officers disappear with a single telephone call as they did once before when I was questioned getting off a train on my return from Fuzhou in 2016. In China it was call “Guanxi” (connections) and foreigners rarely had them. But because of my Government Academy gig and tech projects, I had my share, Unfortunately, the older of the two cops in his 50s immediately grabbed my phone from my hands and then began looking through the drawers in my bedroom. What was he looking for? He wouldn’t say. Needless to say, he would not let me make a call even though I said I wanted to call my lawyer. The next 485 days would become the second worse time period of my life. Only my torture in solitary confinement in Miami, was worse. I was not cuffed, and was actually asked if I could come to the police station “for two hours” to “make arrangements for a new passport”, Only after I agreed, he asked me “Where’s the brown address book?” I simply replied, “I’ll go get it after I get my new passport.” And did my best not to grin. INSERT PHOTO OF CLOUD HERE Note to Editor: Repagination required when merged with final draft and second draft.