Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross could rank “among the biggest grifters in American history,” according to a Forbes report that details claims he wrongly siphoned or “outright stole” millions of dollars from former business associates.
The magazine spoke with 21 people who know Ross, who formerly headed private-equity company WL Ross & Co. All told, Forbes said, the allegations come to more than $120 million.
Among the allegations reported by Forbes, three former WL Ross executives say Ross and his firm charged at least $48 million in improper fees, and pocketed the money. A lawsuit about the matter remains active. Ross called the case “without merit” in a statement to Forbes.
Ross also said in a statement that the Securities and Exchange Commission had “never initiated any enforcement action against me.” But Forbes noted that he did not mention a $2.3 million fine the SEC levied against his firm in 2016.
Ross’s firm was also charging investors on money that it had lost, according to five former employees — allegedly even charging fees on one investment that was essentially worthless, Forbes says. In a statement regarding management fee issues, Ross said “no regulatory agency has ever asserted such charges or any other charges against me and there is no basis for any such allegations.”
In the Forbes article, an unnamed Commerce official called other parts of the report “petty nonsense” — such as former colleagues remembering Ross taking handfuls of Sweet ‘N Low packets from a restaurant so he didn’t have to buy them himself.
Also read: Wilbur Ross says he’ll sell equity investments after ‘inadvertent errors.’
