Kushner Had Access to a Secret $750-Million UAE Fund: Report
A book by investigative journalist Matthew Cole alleges that Dutch spies monitored Jared Kushner’s phone and uncovered access to a UAE account funded with roughly $750 million.
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Dutch intelligence hacked Jared Kushner’s phone and monitored his access to a UAE bank account that received roughly $750 million from Saudi and Emirati sources, according to allegations in a new book.
Kushner’s lawyers deny that President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and former senior adviser had any connection to the account. They also reject allegations involving a separate account in Israel.
The claims appear in investigative journalist Matthew Cole’s book, "Princes and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayed’s Secret Plot to Remake the Middle East."
An excerpt published by Vanity Fair alleges that Gulf funding supported undisclosed diplomatic operations during Trump’s first administration.
Alleged Dutch Surveillance
Cole writes that the Netherlands Defense Intelligence and Security Service, known as MIVD, discovered screenshots of Kushner’s iPhone on a Russian military intelligence server after recruiting a Russian operative in late 2017.
By early 2018, Dutch specialists had exploited a vulnerability allowing them to view and capture Kushner’s screen whenever he used the device, the book alleges.
Their access did not extend to full control of the phone.
That surveillance allegedly revealed Kushner logging into a UAE account holding hundreds of millions of dollars transferred through a bank in Azerbaijan.
Cole says an initial source described Kushner making payments from the account to recipients including a warlord, a mercenary and a former hit man.
The excerpt does not identify those recipients or specify the amounts transferred to them.
A $750 Million Foreign Policy Fund
The book identifies the UAE account, which it calls Alpha, as an account at First Abu Dhabi Bank owned by the government-funded Watani Al Emarat Foundation.
Saudi and Emirati sources allegedly deposited roughly $750 million into it beginning in 2017.
Cole describes Kushner as a signatory with authority to access the funds, rather than the account’s owner.
According to the account presented in the book, Kushner and UAE ruler Mohamed bin Zayed partly managed the money to advance regional diplomatic objectives, including an Israeli-Palestinian agreement and normalization between Israel and Arab states.
Cole alleges that routing the deposits through Azerbaijan obscured their Gulf origins.
He also cites a confidential source who says Watani provided cover for Emirati weapons procurement and overseas intelligence operations.
Kushner’s lawyer denied that his client knew of or had any connection to the foundation, its director, or a UAE bank account.
Separate Allegations Involving Israel
Cole further alleges that Mohamed bin Zayed transferred roughly $1 billion through Azerbaijan to an account at Israel’s central bank by spring 2018, with the allocation intended for Kushner’s personal benefit.
The book calls this account Beta. It says the precise use of the money remains unclear and alleges that some funds subsequently passed through Cyprus.
Cole also claims that then-U.S. ambassador David Friedman relayed messages between Kushner and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu concerning the account.
Friedman denied knowing about the alleged funding or transmitting such messages, calling the allegations about his involvement “100% false.”
Kushner’s counsel said his client knew nothing about the alleged Israeli account, stating that “there are no accounts and never were.”
Authorization and Disclosure
The excerpt cites four senior Trump administration officials who were unaware of presidential authorization for Kushner to access a foreign government account.
Kushner’s counsel said his dealings with foreign leaders had presidential agreement and served U.S. interests. His lawyer also denied any legal violations.
Cole cites a former Mueller investigation prosecutor who said a promise to influence U.S. policy in exchange for foreign funding could breach federal bribery and foreign-agent laws.
That assessment was conditional on the alleged arrangement having occurred.
Ahmet Koçak
Ahmet Koçak is a news editor at Clash Report based in Istanbul. He previously served as Deputy Managing Editor at Türkiye Today, helping launch the digital news platform in 2023, and spent three years as Senior Editor at Daily Sabah. His work focuses on breaking news, geopolitics, international affairs, and digital journalism.
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