Kash Patel, President Donald Trump’s candidate to be the head of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has actions worth $ 1 to $ 5 million in a company that controls Shein, an electronic commerce and controversial fashion founded in China, according to lobbying and corporate files from three countries examined by Wired. They show that Patel began to consult for Shein A month before The company also kept the services of a lobbying company where Pam Bondi, the newly confirmed US prosecutor of Trump, worked at the time.
In a legally required financial disclosurePatel told members of the US Senate – who should vote on the advisability of confirming this next week – that he does not plan to go beyond his participation in Shein if he becomes the FBI chief. Actions of Fast-Fashion Company was actions, which would be assessed to $ 50 billionin the form of what are called “limited stock units” (RSU).
The ISUs are often granted to the employees of the company, who cannot generally spend them as long as a certain time has not succeeded or that other conditions are met. Patel revealed that his Shein RSU began to pay on February 1 and should be paid quarterly.
Legally, an official like the head of the FBI would not need to yield or challenge until a clear conflict of interest emerges, explains Jordan Libowitz, vice-president of communications of the Watchdog Group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “However, the perspective of the situation is not great,” he says. “We therefore recommend disinvestment or challenge of any question involving Shein when taking office.”
An official working for the Trump transition team said that Patel had gone “beyond” by answering the legislators’ questions. “The Senate has evaluated all potential conflicts and concerns,” said Arjun Mcy in an email in Wired. Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
In his financial disclosure, Patel said he had started working as a consultant for an entity in the Cayman Islands called Elite Depot Ltd in April 2024, which he described as a “fashion management company”. A wired examination of the registration deposits of companies, lobbying disclosure and other public files from the American, British and Caymans is that Elite Depot works as a parent company for Shein.
Shein, known for having sold low -cost clothes made in China, was registered with a meticulous examination in Washington for his alleged commercial practices contrary to ethics when Pate has started to consult the company. In the midst of the controversy, Shein had trouble obtaining the approval of financial regulators to make public in New York. In February of the same year, Senator Marco Rubio de Florida, now Secretary of State of Trump, exhorted The American Commission for Securities and Exchange to stop the planned IPO of Shein.
In a financial audit, she submitted to regulators in the United Kingdom – where he is currently trying to introduce on the stock market after her attempts at the American rating have been blocked – the company said that “the ultimate control party is Elite Depot Limited , a company registered in the Cayman Islands. “Public deposit submitted to Congress by three different policy lobby Working on behalf of Shein in Washington also describes Elite Depot as having 100% participation in the rapid fashion giant.
