Former vice president Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden partnered with infamous mobster Whitey Bulger's nephew and former secretary of state John Kerry's stepson for his lucrative business deal with the Bank of China, according to reporter Peter Schweizer's latest book.

Schweizer points to the business deal with state-owned Bank of China, a $1.5 billion private equity investment, as a possible reason why the current presidential candidate has adopted a conciliatory attitude toward China. The lucrative deal between the Bank of China and Hunter Biden's company was inked in 2013 just weeks after Joe Biden brought his son along on an official trip to China.

Schweizer also lays out the interesting cast of characters who partnered with Biden for the deal, such as the Thornton Group consulting firm, which is headed by James Bulger. The son of Massachusetts state senator Billy Bulger, James is named after his uncle James "Whitey" Bulger, who was killed in prison late last year after a decades-long career in the mob that landed him on the FBI's Most Wanted list.

Also partnered with Biden is Chris Heinz, the stepson of John Kerry. Biden and Heinz control Rosemont Seneca Partners, the private equity firm that received billions of investment dollars from China.

A representative for Heinz says his involvement in the deal has been "misreported." He says that neither he nor his firm, Rosemont Seneca Partners, had any role in the deal. He says an unaffiliated second firm, Rosemont Seneca Bohai, is the firm doing business with Bank of China, and that Heinz is not involved. The representative also says Heinz has never been to China.

Schweizer, whose latest book Secret Empires examines the tactics used by political elites to accumulate wealth while in power, calls the timeline of Hunter Biden's business dealings with China as his father shaped foreign policy from the White House "shocking," but points out that nobody knew enough to raise any questions.

"If it sounds shocking that a vice president would shape US-China policy as his son—who has scant experience in private equity—clinched a coveted billion-dollar deal with an arm of the Chinese government, that’s because it is," Schweizer writes. "Until the publication of my book … no one knew the deal took place. Indeed, it took me and a team of seasoned investigators nearly two years to unearth and report the facts."

The details of the dealings between Biden, Heinz, and Bulger remain murky, despite the investigation. Schweizer has called for the Senate to further investigate Biden's foreign business dealings with both China and Ukraine.

UPDATE Tuesday 10:50 a.m.: This piece has been updated with comment from a representative for Heinz.