Brent & Argus

Is the CCP Stealing Your 401(k)?

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Imagine being a 65-year-old retiree sipping coffee, blissfully unaware that your nest egg is tangled up in a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) casino where the house always wins. And by “wins,” I mean “steals your money and funds spy drones.”

In 2023, seniors lost $3.4 billion to scams, many tied to Chinese crooks, while billions more in 401(k)s quietly bankroll Xi Jinping’s dystopian empire.

This isn’t conspiracy theory. It’s the grim takeaway from a rare joint hearing on April 10, 2025, by the Senate Special Committee on Aging and House Select Committee on the CCP.

The CCP’s iron grip on its financial markets is a dagger aimed at American seniors’ wallets and U.S. security, and it’s high time we enforce the laws we’ve got and write new ones to shove the CCP out of our pockets.

This is a tale of greed, negligence, and a regime that would rather see us broke than bowed.

Is Your 401(k) a CCP Pawn?

Let’s start with the bad news: your retirement savings might be a ticking time bomb, courtesy of Beijing.

The hearing laid out how seniors’ investments (funneled through index funds into Chinese firms) can vanish overnight when the CCP decides to flex its muscles.

Remember 2021, when China’s private education sector got gutted by sudden regulations? “Billions of dollars in U.S. investments” evaporated “almost overnight,” Chairman Molinar noted.

Poof—gone!

Because every Chinese company answers to the Party, not shareholders.

Take Variable Interest Entities (VIEs), a sleazy workaround Kevin O’Leary, skewered: “You don’t actually own stock… you own a share of a contract in the Cayman Islands.” It’s a shell game where you’re the mark, and Xi’s the dealer.

Worse, most folks don’t even know they’re playing.

O’Leary quipped, “If I took 10 people in the hall and asked, ‘Do you know what a VIE is?’ they’d say ‘No.’”

Add in scams like “pig butchering,” where Chinese gangs fleece seniors for billions, and it’s clear. The CCP’s turned your golden years into their gold mine.

Retired FBI agent Brady Finta dropped a bombshell: only “10 to 15% of elder fraud victims ever report the crimes.” That $3.4 billion loss is just the tip of the iceberg.

Your Money Arming Xi’s Goons

Now, the uglier truth. Your retirement isn’t just at risk, it’s actively arming the enemy.

Christopher Iacovella, CEO of the American Securities Association, didn’t mince words: “American investor money is used to fund PLA weapon systems, a cyber army that relentlessly attacks us, and sickening human rights abuses.”

Your mutual fund might be bankrolling the People’s Liberation Army or Uyghur concentration camps.

Companies like Hesai, tied to the PLA and blacklisted by the DoD, still trade on U.S. exchanges, a fact Congresswoman Hinson called out. Because the CCP’s “golden share” trick (holding a tiny stake with total control) lets it pull strings without breaking a sweat.

O’Leary hammered this home with TikTok: “Xi Jinping has a golden share in ByteDance… he alone will decide” its fate.

It’s not just TikTok. Hundreds of Chinese firms listed here could “go to zero” if Xi sneezes, O’Leary warned. So, while you’re dreaming of golf courses, your dollars are building Beijing’s surveillance state.

Why Washington Lets This Slide

We actually have laws to stop this, but they’re gathering dust.

The Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act mandates delisting Chinese firms that dodge U.S. audits for two years. Yet, as Chairman Scott fumed, “many Chinese companies… are still listed in clear violation of U.S. law.”

O’Leary was livid: “I see a Chinese company completely ignoring these regulations and suffers no outcome… it’s outrageous.” The SEC’s been napping while Alibaba and pals thumb their noses at GAAP standards any American would be jailed for flouting.

Then there’s fraud enforcement, or the lack thereof.

Finta admitted, “We only were able to address less than 1% of the leads” on elder scams. Too few agents, too many borders, and a CCP that couldn’t care less.

Lacovella flagged the “passive index loophole,” letting “billions of dollars” flow to Chinese firms without any oversight. Washington’s not incompetent, just spineless.

The Fix

So, how do we stop the CCP from raiding Grandma’s piggy bank?

First, enforce the damn laws.

O’Leary’s plea to incoming SEC chair Paul Atkins: “Go back to the files and execute the mandate… dozens of companies should have been delisted.”

Second, new legislation (like Congressman Barr’s Fight China Act), banning “U.S. outbound investment into Chinese military and surveillance companies.”

Lacovella wants VIEs and the index loophole axed: “No company on government prohibition lists should access our markets.” Seems reasonable.

Use America’s market clout to make Xi squirm, as O’Leary urged: “The U.S. is still the world’s largest market… let’s fix this Chinese problem while we still hold the cards.” Tariffs, delistings, whatever it takes. Hit ‘em where it hurts.

Screwed or Just Slow?

The CCP’s turned our retirement system into their personal ATM, threatening seniors’ savings and U.S. security with equal gusto.

Your 401(k)’s at risk because Beijing controls the boardroom, and your grandma’s getting scammed because we can’t catch the crooks.

Enforcement’s a joke. Laws sit unenforced while the SEC twiddles its thumbs.

Fixes exist. Delist the cheats, ban the loopholes, and unleash the task forces.

The hearing screamed bipartisan urgency, with Scott’s parting shot: “Make sure your dollars are not invested in Communist China.”

If we’ve got the tools to crush this now, why are we still letting Xi play us for fools?

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