In Armenia, Colombia, the family owned a small inn called "Pensión Alemana" (which would later inspire Carlos to have his own luxurious "Posada Alemana" hotel), where German immigrants would regularly meet. They also ran a small business producing vegetable oils and importing luxury goods such as wine and canned foods. In 1943, following intelligence reports from the United States, the Lehders, along with many Germans in Colombia, were suspected of ideological links with the National Socialists and were investigated. The "Pensión Alemana" was alleged to have been a place where Nazis gathered intelligence.