The Times Dealbook section features a special report on "How To Fix America." Explains the Times, "we asked top experts for one idea..." Somewhat jarringly, the second "expert" on the list is Robert F. Smith, chief executive of Vista Equity Partners, who proposes to "persuade" companies to "donate 2 percent of their income to do good." The Times doesn't mention it, but here is a report from last month in the Washington Post:
Smith had a secret: He'd played a role in what federal prosecutors allege was the biggest tax evasion scheme in U.S. history, an effort by his longtime associate, Texas billionaire Robert Brockman, to hide $2 billion from tax authorities in an offshore scheme featuring a computer program called Evidence Eliminator and code names such as "Redfish" and "Snapper."
Smith, whose code name was "Steelhead," according to prosecutors, has admitted to hiding profits in offshore accounts and filing false tax returns for 10 years. He is cooperating with investigators and faces no charges. But his complicity in the alleged tax crimes has stunned the many who had seen a role model in the charismatic 57-year-old entrepreneur, often ranked as the wealthiest Black person in the United States.
These two sides of Smith — the impressive generosity on one and the admitted tax evasion on the other — may be hard to reconcile. But they are inextricable, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post, including charity filings with tax authorities and Justice Department court filings.
The "admitted" hyperlink above goes to a statement of facts signed by Smith as part of a Justice Department non-prosecution agreement and makes for some interesting reading to accompany Smith's New York Times essay about "ending systemic racism" and "ensuring equitable access to healthy food."