by WorldTribune Staff, August 25, 2016
While secretary of state, Hillary Clinton helped pave the way for a Clinton Foundation donor to receive $10 million for a project to help rebuild earthquake-ravaged Haiti.
The project turned out to be a scam and the donor turned out to be a felon, according to a report by Judicial Watch.
Miami businessman Claudio Osorio is now serving a 12-year prison sentence after scamming the government. The Clinton State Department reportedly pulled some strings and got the money for Osorio from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a federal agency that operates under the guidance of the State Department, to build houses in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, the report said.
The $10 million Clinton’s State Department helped Osoario get “was supposed to build 500 homes for displaced families in the aftermath of the earthquake. The project never broke ground and Osorio used the money to finance his lavish lifestyle and fund his illicit business ventures,” Judicial Watch reported.
Osorio also ran a fraudulent international company with facilities in the U.S., United Arab Emirates, Germany, Angola and Tanzania that stole millions from investors. Some of the OPIC Haiti money was used to repay investors of his fraudulent company (InnoVida), according to federal prosecutors. In September 2013, Osorio was sentenced to 150 months imprisonment and three years of supervised release.
“The bigger story is that, despite Osorio’s shady history, it appears that the Clinton State Department helped him get $10 million — which will never be repaid — because he was a Clinton Foundation donor,” Judicial Watch said.
This Clinton-Osorio connection was not made public until years after the scammer was sentenced.
After Osorio’s 2013 sentencing in Miami, media tied him to the Clintons and President Barack Obama as a campaign donor who held fundraisers at his waterfront home, but the foundation was not mentioned.
“A Washington D.C. newspaper eventually connected the dots after obtaining a document that shows an OPIC official recommending funding for Osorio’s Haiti project,” Judicial Watch reported.
In the OPIC document, an official writes that Osorio’s company had “U.S. persons of political influence that are able to assist in advancing the company’s plans. For instance, former President Bill Clinton is personally in contact with the Company to organize its logistical and support needs. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has made available State Department resources to assist with logistical arrangements.”
Additionally, the OPIC document says, the Clinton Global Initiative had “indicated that it would be willing to contract to purchase 6,500 homes in Haiti from InnoVida within the next year.”
Less than 24 hours after the OPIC official submitted the recommendation, OPIC approved Osorio’s $10 million loan to build homes in Haiti.
“Not one was ever built and no one has been held accountable for giving the crooked businessman millions of taxpayer dollars,” Judicial Watch concluded.