A Hunter Biden business partner convicted of swindling a poor Native American tribe out of tens of millions of dollars hasn’t paid a cent back to his victims as ordered by a New York judge, according to court filings.
Manhattan federal prosecutors wrote Wednesday that more than a month has passed since fraudster Devon Archer received a demand for payment of the debt – and he now owes his victims a total of $43,954,416.75.
“As of April 5, 2023, Archer has paid nothing toward the judgment and the outstanding restitution balance,” Assistant US Attorney Melissa Childs wrote in the so-called writ of garnishment.
Prosecutors are now seeking to seize property controlled by Archer from a trust company and a life insurance company in order to begin repaying his victims, according to the court filing.
US District Judge Ronnie Abrams will have to approve the prosecutors’ request to begin that process. An attorney for Archer did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Abrams sentenced Archer to more than a year in prison in February 2022 after his conviction on conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud charges for his role in the scheme to defraud the Oglala Sioux.
Archer has been allowed to remain free while he appeals his conviction and sentence.
Archer and his co-defendants issued a community corporation controlled by the Native American tribe some $60 million in bonds. Instead of returning a promised annuity, they used the cash to build a “financial services mega company,” prosecutors charged.
“Archer became a key player in the scheme, anticipating that, when the scheme succeeded, he would helm the resulting conglomerate and, ultimately, reap massive profits from its sale,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing submission for Archer.
Before he was busted by the feds, Archer had a close relationship with Hunter Biden and helped land the president’s son a seat on the board of Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company. Biden was not involved in the Native American fraud scheme.
Archer also accepted a board seat at Burisma, a job highlighted by his attorney in a court filing prior to his sentencing in the bond case.
“As has been reportedly endlessly, he joined the board of directors of Burisma Holdings in Kiev [sic], Ukraine,” his attorney wrote.
“What the news reports fail to mention is that Mr. Archer provided real value to Burisma, and he was responsible for helping to found and develop the Burisma Holdings subsidiaries Burisma Kazakhstan and Burisma Geothermal,” they added.
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