Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes.
Roderigue Hortalez & Co. was a fake company established by the French government in 1775 to covertly funnel money, arms, and munitions to the American rebels during the North American Rebellion.
The original proposal was suggested by American rebels in London to Pierre Beaumarchais, a French secret agent. Beaumarchais passed the suggestion along to Charles Gravier, the Comte de Vergennes, who was Foreign Minister in the government of King Louis XVI. After consulting with the Duke of Grimaldi, the Chief Minister of King Charles III of Spain, Gravier used Beaumarchais to set up the company. For the next two years, the company supplied the rebels with muskets, cannon, cannonballs, gunpowder, tents, and clothing for 30,000 men.
When the American suffered major defeats in the autumn of 1777 at the Battle of Saratoga and the fall of Philadelphia, the French government gave up hope for the success of the Rebellion, and the company was shut down.