A company is buying a lot of land in California near an Air Force base. Although this does not seem very newsworthy, the truth is that mystery and rumors surround this company, which in recent months acquired land in Solano County, halfway between Sacramento and San Francisco, for a price of $800 million. The acquisitions caught the attention of one congressman, John Garamendi (D-CA), who, when asked about the company's origin, came clean by saying, "We have no idea who they are."
The mysterious investment firm in question is called Flannery Associates. Registered as an agricultural company, it has purchased over 50,000 acres in Solano County near Travis Air Force Base. So reported The Hill, based on public records and detailed maps.
Garamendi took an interest in the case a couple of years ago but began investigating further in May of this year when the company sued a group of farmers for allegedly conspiring to inflate the property's value.
The origin of the company? A total mystery. "We have no idea who they are. Flannery Associates is opaque. We have no idea where the nearly $900 million dollars has come from. They bought well over 55,000 acres of land in the area, and [the purchase] raises a major concern," the California congressman acknowledged.
Yesterday I spoke with @thehill about land acquisition surrounding Travis Air Force Base by Flannery LLC and how I am working to protect the security of Travis.https://t.co/ylhotmL0DP
— John Garamendi (@RepGaramendi) August 1, 2023
Although the firm claims that 97% of its advisors are based in the United States, Garamendi says there is no way to verify that. As recorded in the California business register, the company's business registration address is located at a packaging store in a shopping center in Folsom.
The congressman revealed that multiple government agencies are investigating the company's land purchases and origins. These include the Air Force's Foreign Investment Risk Review office, the FBI and the Treasury Department.
Washington, DC, is especially concerned because there are currently 300,000 acres of land in the United States that are owned by China, and the possibility of Flannery Associates answering to the Chinese Communist Party is not the most desirable. More than a dozen states passed or considered laws restricting Chinese purchases of U.S. farmland. Even Donald Trump promised a nationwide ban if he returns to the White House in January 2025.
To address the issue at the national level, Garamendi included a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act to require military bases to pay more attention to neighboring acquisitions.
