David North is a CIS fellow who has studied the interaction of immigration and the U.S. EB5 Affiliate Network is a national leader in EB-5 Regional Center setup consulting and owns one of the largest networks of full state Regional Centers. EB5 Affiliate Network partners with best-in-class developers across asset. EB- 5 secrets lie with silent Joop Bollen. Joop Bollen, then- director of the South Dakota International Business Institute, is filmed by Michael Gibson of USAdvisors. EB- 5- funded site in Brookings in 2. Photo: Courtesy of Dave Skaggs / eb. One man might know all the details of a lingering mystery surrounding a scandal- marred economic development program in South Dakota that funneled millions of dollars into a failed beef plant in Aberdeen. That man, a Dutchman named Joop Bollen, isn't talking. S. D. It was the subject of a state investigation, which found evidence of financial malfeasance by Benda, and reportedly still is under investigation by federal law enforcement, though the scope of that effort is not public. Yet Bollen, much like the program, remains a public mystery. A tall, good- looking man with dark hair, he still speaks with a noticeable Dutch accent. His first name is pronounced . Susan Wismer, the Democratic nominee for governor, tried to force Bollen to testify to a legislative committee investigating South Dakota's EB- 5 program. But the attempt was rejected by majority Republicans after attorney general Marty Jackley told them about the limits of their power to compel testimony from Bollen. Bollen has met with criminal investigators probing the EB- 5 program, though what he told them is unknown. And your entire family? This content appears if the video tag or the codec is not supported.Jackley concluded his investigation without charging Bollen, but federal authorities might be continuing their own inquiry. Bollen has not been publicly accused of any wrongdoing.'Business is in my blood,' Bollen said. From 1. 99. 4 to 2. South Dakota, Bollen worked for Northern State's South Dakota International Business Institute. He had just moved to Aberdeen with his then- wife, Anita, and seemed a perfect fit for the position, said Arnold, then the dean of Northern's business school. He started buying apartments and rental homes in Aberdeen. The Dutch- language interview was translated to English for the Argus Leader by Henry Gerrits, a Dutch- American born in the Netherlands province of Overijssel. That ambition has been evident throughout Bollen's adult life. In his mid- 2. 0s, Bollen was working for the investment bank J. P. Morgan in Chicago, but decided he wanted to go into business for himself. With a friend, Pyush Patel, Bollen started a liquor store business near Atlanta. In the early years, it was focused on unglamorous work: supporting South Dakota businesses trying to find international markets for their products. Instead of focusing on exporting products from South Dakota, it began importing money and people from Europe. Starting in 2. 00. European farmers to cheap South Dakota land. Until recently, experts had described South Dakota's EB- 5 program as one of the nation's best. Though Bollen's work at the International Business Institute grew out of the university, he did more and more work for the state economic development office . As a state employee, Bollen earned a fixed salary for promoting EB- 5. Its fees for projects included annual payments to SDRC of $1. Gradually, Bollen expanded the program, until it was paying for factories and wind farms with as many as 2. Other EB- 5 pioneers, including Can. Am Enterprises in Philadelphia, were doing . That I firmly believe. But after October, Bollen . Very friendly, very outspoken. Gibson's clash with Bollen came when he published an article about the bankruptcy of a South Dakota dairy Bollen had funded with EB- 5 money. After the article went online, Bollen called Gibson and demanded the article be taken down. This is hurting our marketing in China.' . But when it was clear Gibson wouldn't take down the article, he said, Bollen . After the federal government rejected a $1. EB- 5 fund for Iberdrola Renewables, Bollen wrote to investors urging them not to back out. The . Citizenship and Immigration Services. That overstated the situation. Tim Johnson and John Thune all wrote letters on behalf of the project, but they were cautiously worded and asked only for . Citizen and Immigration Services, despite Bollen's assurances, rejected the Iberdrola investors' visa applications. The bold charm was evident even when things weren't dire. In 2. 00. 3, Bollen was trying to recruit . His side venture as a landlord quickly expanded until in 2. De Volkskrant he owned 2. Some of Bollen's tenants, in fact, were employees at Aberdeen's EB- 5- funded Northern Beef Packers plant. When the plant went bankrupt in 2. Bollen told the American News that five Hispanic families had moved out of his apartments when the beef plant laid them off. In 2. 00. 8, Bollen ventured into real estate again. With Patel, his old friend and business partner from Atlanta, Bollen bought beach- side condominiums in South Padre Island, Texas. Arnold recalled Bollen trying to persuade him to rent one of them. Bollen also loved talking about the Netherlands, said Barringer, who recalled Bollen expounding on the role of the Dutch in colonizing America. Broucek said Bollen was a fitness buff who often was at the Aberdeen YMCA. Gibson recalled Bollen standing in short sleeves, seemingly impervious to the cold, during a tour of the Northern Beef plant. Perhaps Bollen's most notable hobby was his love of art and artifacts. He collected antiques, Native American art, medieval armor and Egyptian antiquities. His collection included 3,2. Egyptian mummy mask, which museum curator Peter Lacovara called a rare find whose only equal in the U. S. Bollen talked in 2. But he told De Volkskrant it all was worth it.
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