Billionaire investor and philanthropist Robert F. Smith is under investigation for possible tax crimes. For four years, federal authorities have been investigating if the founder of Vista Equity Partners failed to pay taxes on about $200 million in assets that moved from Vista's first private equity fund through offshore entities.
Some of the money was later moved to the Fund II Foundation, a charity Smith ran in the United States, which was established to provide grants to public charities. Smith, who's worth $5.2 billion, will be charged with a crime if it's found that he was the beneficial owner of the entities that received proceeds from the fund.
It's been reported that Smith hopes to resolve the Justice Department's case with a civil settlement in order to prevent resigning from Vista and serving time in prison. The billionaire has also asked for leniency in exchange for his cooperation with another investigation involving Robert Brockman, someone who's worked with Smith on projects involving offshore entities, trusts, and foundations. Smith is reportedly willing to cooperate with additional investigations as well.
Vista Equity Partners, which manages $65 billion in assets, has not commented on the matter.
Source: Forbes
