Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross Accused of Swindling $120 Million From Partners, Investors in Bombshell Report

On the scale of White House ethical foibles, this would make Scott Pruitt‘s various capers seem like child’s play.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross is being accused of swindling his former investors and partners out of more than a hundred million dollars. In a bombshell report published Tuesday by Forbes, the Cabinet official stands accused of cheating investors and former business partners out of several million dollars at a time.

From the report:

Over several months, in speaking with 21 people who know Ross, Forbes uncovered a pattern: Many of those who worked directly with him claim that Ross wrongly siphoned or outright stole a few million here and a few million there, huge amounts for most but not necessarily for the commerce secretary. At least if you consider them individually. But all told, these allegations — which sparked lawsuits, reimbursements and an SEC fine — come to more than $120 million.

Forbes chronicled one case in which Ross’s private equity firm, WL Ross, once promised it would rebate 50 percent of its hefty “management fees” to investors, but it actually returned far less. The SEC forced Ross to cough up an undisclosed fine, and pay out $11.9 million to investors.

“He’s a pathological liar,” a former Ross colleague told Forbes.

UPDATE: A Commerce Department spokesperson provided the following statement to Mediaite:

The anonymously sourced Forbes story is based on false rumors, innuendo, and unverifiable claims. The fact remains that no regulator has made any of these accusations against the Secretary. This rehash of old stories is clearly the result of a personal vendetta. The baseless claims made in this story were well publicized long ago and are not news.

[featured photo via Getty Images]