Following the Money: the Shanghai-based Tycoon Funding Groups Amplifying France’s Unrest
As France confronts a wave of unrest, attention is turning to the money sustaining some of the organizations promoting the demonstrations internationally.
At the centre of that scrutiny is Neville Roy Singham, an American technology entrepreneur based in Shanghai whose funding network has become the subject of a widening U.S. congressional investigation.
The sums involved are substantial. In a September statement, the Republican chairmen of two House committees cited US$278 million channelled into advocacy groups through Singham’s network. That figure concerns the broader network; it is not an estimate of spending on French protests.
The Money Behind the Organizations
The clearest publicly identified financial link involves The People’s Forum, a New York-based activist organization. According to the House Ways and Means Committee, it has received more than US$20 million from Singham’s network.
Two other organizations—BreakThrough News and Tricontinental—are also under investigation by the committee over their financial relationships with Singham and possible foreign influence. All three received congressional subpoenas in July.
The committee says public reporting has traced money through shell companies and donor-advised funds, making the original source of contributions difficult to follow.
Investigators are seeking financial records, sponsorship agreements, donor information and communications concerning the organizations’ finances and governance. Their stated objective is to determine whether nonprofit structures have obscured foreign-linked funding and whether existing transparency requirements are adequate. These are matters under investigation, rather than findings by a court.
Where France Fits In
Fox News identifies Singham-linked Tricontinental, CodePink and BreakThrough News among the international organizations amplifying France’s protests.
That connection raises a legitimate funding question: who finances the organizations helping give a domestic protest movement an international audience?
However, funding an organization that promotes demonstrations does not establish that a donor paid for particular marches, supplied rioters or directed attacks. The reports reviewed for this article do not provide a transaction trail connecting Singham’s money to specific acts of violence in France.
The distinction matters because organizational funding can sustain communications and advocacy over many years. Establishing responsibility for a particular operation requires evidence showing where the money went and how it was used.
Investigators Demand Answers
On October 13, Ways and Means Committee chairman Jason Smith gave the three subpoenaed organizations an October 20 deadline to supply outstanding records, warning that their leaders could face questioning under oath.
The committee is specifically seeking information about foreign donors, financial sponsorship arrangements and communications with Singham concerning finance, governance and organizational structure.
Singham has previously denied working for, taking orders from or following instructions from any government or political party, saying his activities reflect his personal beliefs.
For now, the documented story is one of substantial funding for an international activist infrastructure. Whether any of that money financed unlawful activity in France remains an unanswered question.
