Later that year, a Brazilian prosecutor began investigating two small pension funds that contributed a total of $40 million to the project.

[3] By August 2015, construction was underway on the project, which was expected to cost $120 million and was scheduled to open in time for the city's 2016 Summer Olympics.

[8] Filho resigned his executive position at LSH Barra in March 2016, but retained a financial stake in the Trump Hotel project.

[8] On October 21, 2016, Brazilian prosecutor Anselmo Lopes launched an investigation after two small pension funds made large investments totaling $40 million to LSH Barra.

Lopes stated, "Investing amounts of such size, for these (relatively small) pension funds, breaks principles for diversification and liquidity.

It is necessary to verify if the favoritism shown by the pension funds towards LSH Barra Empreendimentos Imobiliários SA and The Trump Organization was due to illicit payments and bribes."

"[1][4] Alan Garten, executive vice president and general counsel for The Trump Organization, said the company had not been informed of the investigation and was not involved with the pension funds.

LSH Barra denied wrongdoing and agreed to aid the investigation, while stating, "We regret being connected to acts and procedures that we know nothing about and never participated in.