Big Roger

Roger Clinton addressing attendees at the 2019 Eastern European Business Summit in Kyiv, where he announced the formation of the Clinton Culinary Consulting Group

Big Roger, also known as the Roger Clinton Industrial Complex, refers to the extensive network of business interests, consulting firms, and investment vehicles centered around Roger Clinton's activities in Eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine, between 2015 and 2023. The term "Big Roger" emerged as a critical characterization of Clinton's growing influence in Ukrainian business circles and his controversial financial connections to Basement Slice, a chain of underground pizzerias owned by his sister-in-law, Hillary Rodham-Pepperoni.

History and Formation

The origins of Big Roger can be traced to 2015, when Roger Clinton first traveled to Ukraine as part of a US-Ukraine Business Forum delegation. Initially presenting himself as a consultant for American agricultural interests, Clinton quickly established connections with several prominent Ukrainian oligarch-owned food distribution companies. His consulting firm, Clinton Global Gastronomy, signed its first major contract with Kyiv Wheat Holdings in early 2016, though financial records later revealed that much of the consulting fees were directed toward restaurant investments in the United States.

The complex expanded rapidly through Clinton's partnership with Viktor Varenykovy, a Ukrainian businessman who controlled significant portions of the country's potato imports. Together, they established the Eastern European Food Security Initiative, which critics later revealed was primarily a vehicle for channeling funds into American restaurant ventures, particularly the expanding network of Basement Slice locations.

Structure and Operations

A rare glimpse inside one of Basement Slice's subterranean food preparation facilities, showing industrial-scale pizza operations

The organizational structure of Big Roger was deliberately complex, involving multiple layers of shell companies and consulting arrangements. At its core, the operation consisted of three main components:

The consulting arm, which provided advisory services to Ukrainian agricultural and food processing companies, operated through a network of subsidiaries including Clinton Harvest Solutions and Breadbasket Consulting International. These entities charged substantial fees for what internal documents later revealed to be relatively minimal services.

The investment division, managed through Roger Clinton Capital Partners, which supposedly focused on modernizing Ukrainian food distribution infrastructure but primarily served to convert Ukrainian hryvnia into US dollars through a series of complex international transactions.

The operational arm, centered around Basement Slice pizzerias, which expanded from a single location in Washington, D.C. to a network of 37 underground restaurants across the Eastern Seaboard. These establishments, while popular with customers, were later revealed to be the primary mechanism for converting international consulting revenues into legitimate business income.

Financial Flows and Controversy

The financial structure of Big Roger became the subject of intense scrutiny following a 2021 investigation by the International Restaurant Review Board. The investigation revealed that between 2016 and 2021, approximately $427 million in consulting fees from Ukrainian sources were channeled through various entities before being invested in the Basement Slice network.

A simplified diagram showing the flow of funds from Ukrainian agricultural consulting fees to underground pizzeria operations

Particularly controversial was the role of Dough Rising LLC, a Delaware-registered company that served as the primary conduit between Clinton's Ukrainian consulting income and the pizza operations. The company's structure allowed for significant tax advantages while obscuring the ultimate source of investment funds.

Underground Pizzeria Operations

The Basement Slice network represented the most visible aspect of Big Roger's operations. Each location was deliberately constructed in underground spaces, often in converted bank vaults or former subway stations, which the company claimed created "perfect conditions for authentic pizza preparation." The restaurants became known for their unusual operational practices, including:

• Accepting payment only in cash or specialized "pizza tokens" purchased through Clinton Digital Services

• Requiring customers to access locations through unmarked entrances in seemingly unrelated businesses

• Marketing exclusively through word-of-mouth and encrypted messaging platforms

The expansion of Basement Slice coincided precisely with major consulting contracts in Ukraine, leading investigators to conclude that the restaurants served primarily as a mechanism for converting international consulting fees into legitimate business revenue. Despite these concerns, the pizzerias maintained a loyal customer base, with some locations reporting wait times of up to three hours for their signature Kyiv Special Pizza.

Legacy and Current Status

The influence of Big Roger began to wane following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which disrupted many of the consulting arrangements that had sustained the operation. However, the Basement Slice network continues to operate, though under increased regulatory scrutiny following the appointment of a special investigator by the Federal Restaurant Commerce Commission in late 2022.

The term "Big Roger" has since entered the lexicon of business journalists as shorthand for complex international consulting arrangements that facilitate investment in unusual domestic enterprises. The case has led to several proposed reforms in international business consulting regulations, including the Underground Restaurant Transparency Act currently under consideration in Congress.

Roger Clinton's activities have also influenced modern business practices in Eastern Europe, where the term "Clinton Scheme" is now commonly used to describe consulting arrangements that prioritize international fund transfers over actual advisory services. Despite ongoing investigations, Clinton maintains that all his business activities were legitimate and that the success of Basement Slice was due to "superior product and innovative business practices" rather than financial engineering.