By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-30 12:55:00 | Updated at 2025-04-01 12:39:50
1 day ago
Hunter Biden lunched with a Democrat mega-donor accused in lawsuits of pretending to a be a CIA agent, defrauding associates – and even stealing his landlord's furniture.
Gaurav Srivastava has donated over $1,230,000 to Democrat campaigns according to federal records, making him a friendly face to the former president's son.
And Srivastava, 34, even says he's hung out with the Biden family on several occasions in recent months.
But the former First Family have been fraternizing with a debt dodger, fraudster and scam artist, if you believe the shocking allegations in a slew of lawsuits against the Indian-born US green card holder, which he denies.
Srivastava was accused by former business associate Neils Troost of posing as a CIA operative in a scam to swindle him out of an oil trading company, according to a May 2024 Los Angeles lawsuit.
Former ABC president Steve McPherson also filed an LA court complaint in 2021 accusing Srivastava of dodging rent, refusing to vacate his $12million home and stealing wine and furniture.
Others filed legal complaints against him for allegedly selling a sham cancer screening device, stiffing contractors and interior designers over some of their work on Srivastava's $25 million LA mansion, and dodging $80,000 medical bills as a guarantor.
Srivastava has denied all the claims, saying Dutch oil trader Troost orchestrated a smear campaign to distract from his own EU sanctions for allegedly trading Russian oil. Troost denies the claim.
Hunter Biden lunched with a Democrat mega-donor accused in lawsuits of pretending to a be a CIA agent, defrauding associates and even allegedly stealing his landlord’s furniture
Gaurav Srivastava has donated over $1,230,000 to Democrat campaigns, according to federal records, which made him a friendly face to Hunter
Despite the public controversy swirling around Srivastava for two years, Hunter, 55, set a lunch date with him on January 22 this year at the Whiskey 'N Rye Smokehouse in Solvang, California.
Joe Biden's son, wearing a blue button-down and slacks, arrived in a Secret Service convoy from the 8,000-acre Santa Ynez wine country estate of med-tech billionaire and major Democrat donor Joe Kiani, with whom the former president and his family were staying that week.
The felon former First Son is currently casting around for ways to make back the millions of dollars he owes to his attorneys and for hefty alimony and child support payments
Srivastava arrived separately, dressed casually in a black t-shirt.
The two dined on a hearty meal of burgers, fries and chicken wings, both tucking in with their hands, and engaged in intense conversation.
Srivastava's spokesman told DailyMail.com it was 'a social meeting' – and claimed that despite the allegations against the businessman, Srivastava also had 'other meetings with the Bidens in the past several months'.
Hunter's representatives did not respond to a request for comment.
And though Srivastava said he and Hunter did not talk shop, Hunter's recent legal filings suggest he is in dire need of drumming up more business.
The felon former First Son is currently casting around for ways to make back the millions of dollars he owes to his attorneys, as well an alleged $2.9million alimony debt to ex-wife Kathleen Buhle and a $5,000-per-month child support bill for his lovechild with his former assistant Lunden Roberts.
Srivastava poses with his wife Sharon. He was accused in a lawsuit by Dutch oil trader Niels Troost of trying to trick Troost into giving up his Swiss company Paramount Energy in exchange for protection against sanctions over trading Russian oil
Srivastava also gave the Atlantic Council think tank a whopping $1million which gave him VIP status at a November 2022 conference in Bali, they later cut ties with him and returned another $500,000 donation
He owes Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, who paid off his multi-million-dollar tax debts, over $7million.
And this month DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Hunter is claiming he is broke in a court filing, saying that since December he has only sold one piece of art for $36,000 and that book sales of his memoir have dropped to 1,100 copies in six months, a third of the previous rate.
The hard-up Biden son and wealthy Srivastava have overlapping business backgrounds in international oil and gas industries.
The Indian entrepreneur says he runs a 'large multi-national security corporation' and has interests in the 'petroleum and gas industry' as a 'strategic investor in the energy and commodities markets'.
Hunter ended up in federal criminal court last year over his shady dealings with Chinese government-linked oil and gas firm CEFC.
He pleaded guilty to dodging tax on millions of dollars from CEFC, whose executives have been jailed and accused of espionage for Beijing – including by Hunter, who called one of them 'the f***ing spy chief of China' in an audio recording on his abandoned laptop.
DailyMail.com has also previously exposed how Hunter arranged for Mexican oil billionaire Carlos Slim to meet then-Vice President Joe Biden at the White House and Vice President's residence, and how Hunter and his business partner took a flight to Mexico on Air Force Two, all while negotiating an oil deal with Slim.
Hunter and Srivastava's charitable interests also align. Hunter was a board director of the nonprofit World Food Program USA, which supports the UN organization of the same name.
The controversial mega-donor’s contribution to the Atlantic Council and his subsequent VIP status at their Bali conference led to him being serenaded by rock star John Legend
Srivastava's organization, The Gaurav & Sharon Srivastava Family Foundation, reportedly backed a 2022 forum on food security in Indonesia, at which he expressed his support for the UN's World Food Program.
But Srivastava has also been dogged by claims in a lawsuit that he posed as a CIA agent to dupe his business associate, Dutch oil trader Neils Troost.
In May 2024 Troost's oil trading firm Paramount Energy & Commodities sued the US law firm he and Srivastava engaged for their ill-fated business dealings.
'Through a series of sophisticated manipulations, and misrepresentations, Mr. Srivastava concocted, perpetuated, and reinforced a complex false narrative about himself being a secret CIA agent for the United States Government,' the 'malpractice' complaint said.
An aide for Senator Mark Warner, then-chairman of the Senate Intelligence Select Committee, told DailyMail.com he returned the $6,600 Srivastava had donated to him when he became concerned about his background
Paramount's lawsuit alleges that Srivastava tried to trick Troost into giving up half his company, by telling him the CIA would use the firm to spy on the Kremlin while Troost would be allowed to continue trading Russian oil.
Srivastava denies the claims, and the case is still pending.
His spokesman told DailyMail.com that 'Srivastava is not and has never claimed to be affiliated with the CIA' and that previous stories reporting those claims contained 'materially false information'.
At the same time, the Indian entrepreneur had also been ingratiating himself with Washington, DC elites through generous political donations.
Despite the controversy surrounding Srivastava, Hunter set a lunch date with him on January 22 at the Whiskey 'N Rye Smokehouse in Solvang, California
He was photographed shaking hands with then-President Joe Biden in a photo published by LA Weekly in January 2023.
He gave a total $1,236,500 in 2022 and 2023 according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) records.
That included half a million to the pro-Democrat Senate Majority PAC, $290,000 to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund, $40,800 to ActBlue and $6,600 to Democrat Senator Mark Warner - then chairman of the Senate Intelligence Select Committee.
Through his spokesman, Srivastava denied the donation to ActBlue, despite FEC records listing the payments under his name and company.
His whopping $1million donation to the influential Atlantic Council think tank gave him VIP status at a November 2022 conference in Bali that his cash funded, where Srivastava was greeted on stage by rock star John Legend and serenaded.
But the think tank said they cut ties with him and returned a further $500,000 donation when they could not verify his backstory and found his 'Family Foundation' was not a nonprofit as he had allegedly claimed.
'We made the decision to terminate our relationship with Srivastava upon learning new information because of our donor review process,' an Atlantic Council spokesperson told news site the Friday Times.
'For example, we learned that The Gaurav & Sharon Srivastava Family Foundation was not an established 501(c)(3) in April of 2023, despite Srivastava's representation to the Council that this was a registered foundation.'
Hunter Biden arriving at federal court with his wife Melissa Cohen Biden on June 3, 2024. The Biden Victory Fund also reportedly froze Srivastava's $50,000 donation after finding out his controversial past
Hunter owes his wealthy 'sugar brother', Hollywood attorney Kevin Morris, over $7million after he paid off his multi-million-dollar tax debts
Srivastava's spokesman confirmed the 'Foundation' is a corporation, not a registered charity, but said that Srivastava never pretended otherwise.
He also claimed to DailyMail.com that the Atlantic Council later 'revised its statement', saying the decision to cut ties 'had nothing whatsoever to do with any questions or concerns of the Atlantic Council regarding Mr. Srivastava or his acknowledged honor, integrity and good citizenship. The Atlantic Council hereby disassociates itself from, repudiates and condemns any published articles suggesting or asserting otherwise.'
The Council did not respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.
When the allegations against Srivastava emerged, the DCCC froze his $290,000 donation. A DCCC spokesman told DailyMail.com the money is still segregated.
The Biden Victory Fund also reportedly froze Srivastava's $50,000 donation.
Srivastava's spokesman said the money was eventually returned to the businessman at his request.
Senator Warner's aide told DailyMail.com he returned the money from Srivastava, concerned about his background.
Srivastava's spokesperson disputed the claim, saying Warner's office should 'double check their records'.
Although his funds are reportedly 'dried up', Hunter was seen out to lunch with Srivastava in Solvang, California, in late January
DailyMail.com exclusively revealed Hunter is claiming he is broke in a court filing, saying that since December he has only sold one piece of art for $36,000 and that book sales of his memoir have dropped to 1,100 copies in six months, a third of the previous rate
While some of Srivastava's political donations are in limbo, several of his legal battles continue to rage in the LA courts.
His interior designer Meredith Kleinman, who he allegedly stiffed $111,329 of her total $422,953 bill, has a trial set with Srivastava for June 15 2026.
A lawsuit by Sandsbuilt Construction Inc., which claims Srivastava still owes them $376,742.07 for construction work on his mansion, is still pending.
Srivastava's spokesman said he 'disputes the validity of charges reflected in additional invoices' from Kleinman and Sandsbuilt after he initially paid them, and claimed the lawsuits 'were filed opportunistically' after negative stories about Srivastava emerged.
A February 2024 fraud lawsuit by Jodie Slaton claimed Srivastava and his firm Veecon Biotech pushed her to market a 'Salivary Diagnostics Technology' for 'cancer detection and screening'.
The legal filing said she then discovered Srivastava lied about having the necessary licenses, and alleged that a UCLA doctor he claimed was behind the technology in fact had nothing to do with Srivastava.
This month the judge ‘encouraged’ the parties to schedule the ‘informal discovery conference.’ Srivastava says the complaint was filed for 'illegitimate purposes' and that he was never served with legal papers.
The lawsuit over an $82,088 Keck Hospital bill for his father that Srivastava allegedly failed to pay as guarantor, was later dismissed at the debt collector's request. Srivastava's spokesman said his father 'ultimately resolved the dispute'.
Former ABC president McPherson had dueling lawsuits with Srivastava. McPherson claimed the businessman dodged rent on his $12million home, refused to leave at the end of his tenancy, and stole McPherson's wine and furniture.
Srivastava's spokesman claimed McPherson failed to make repairs and keep the home in satisfactory condition.
Their respective court cases have now been settled.
