GOP lawmaker sees wealth soar due to stake in China-linked company

13 September 2022

A Republican senator who has vocally opposed Beijing and called for investigations into President Joe Biden's family and their alleged business relationships in China, has reportedly disclosed more than $57 million over his last 10 years in office as a result of income generated from a business whose growth is largely aligned with China.

According to The Guardian, Sen. Ron Johnson's (R-Wisc.) financial disclosures indicate that his wealth increased significantly over the last decade during his time in the Senate.

The Republican senator is said to have acquired his wealth through profits from the Oshkosh-based company Pacur, which is a plastic manufacturing facility where Johnson previously served as a high-ranking executive.

Per the news outlet: "A close examination of Johnson’s financial disclosures and other public filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, legal filings and other public records reveal that Johnson’s wealth was boosted by his company’s ties to another company that was owned and managed by his family, which in turn grew its business in China, acquired businesses in China, and reported having a loan worth tens of millions of dollars from the Bank of China."

Although Johnson is said to have sold his stake in the company back in 2020, documents show "an LLC owned by Johnson and his wife, Jane, still receives up to $1m annually through rent and royalties as owners of the building where Pacur operates," The Guardian reports.

Pacur was co-founded in the 1970s by the Wisconsin lawmaker and his brother-in-law. The publication also highlights the connection between Pacur and Bemis, a company founded and managed by the lawmaker's father-in-law, Howard Curler.

"SEC documents show that, from about 1998 to 2010, Bemis paid tens of millions of dollars to Pacur, which was a supplier to Bemis. Johnson also personally owned Bemis stock, valued at between $1m and $5.2m on financial disclosure forms," the news outlet reports. "The stock was later gifted to the senator’s family foundation, called the Grammie Jean Foundation."

Records also show Bemis "had a steady and growing presence in China under the leadership of Jeffrey Curler, Howard Curler’s son and Ron Johnson’s brother-in-law. The company has plants in China and in 2013, records show, appear to have acquired tens of millions of dollars in Chinese debt in connection to a Chinese acquisition. SEC filings show that Bemis also disclosed in 2016 that it had a $50m Bank of China loan."

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