Hillary Clinton is likely to face some uncomfortable questions as it has emerged that the Clinton Foundation, started by her husband and former president, Bill Clinton, was operating an unregistered private equity fund in Columbia, widely regarded as one of the most corrupt nations across the globe, according to reports.
The firm, Fondo Acceso, was founded by Bill Clinton, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim and mining magnate Frank Giustra in 2010. A $20 million joint contribution from the Clinton Foundation's Clinton-Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative and the SLIM Foundation had financed the company.
The fact that the company was not registered might have resulted in it managing to avoid certain industry regulations and oversight from the Colombian government, reports the Washington Free Beacon.
The company does not appear in databases of the Colombian government listing current or previously registered private equity funds, even though company promotional materials and business presentations of Fondo Acceso describe itself as a "private equity fund," reports The Ridgewood Blog.
According to its corporate records, Fondo Acceso is registered in Colombia as a "simplified stock corporation," a technicality, which, according to legal experts precludes it from doing business as a private equity fund, reports What Really Happened.
Earlier this week, when the Washington Beacon reported that the $20 million investment firm was owned by the Clinton Foundation and was run out of the foundation's office in Bogota, the company's website was pulled from the internet.
Fondo Acceso did not appear to have violated any laws by calling itself a private equity fund, as long as it was not doing so while trying to raise capital, said Columbian legal experts to the Washington Free Beacon.
