Why financial criminals use real estate to launder money
Property is stable, functional, and less scrutinized than other landing spots for ill-gotten gains Special council Robert Mueller?s inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election has led to multiple charges of financial crimes for former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort. As the prosecution laid out in the ongoing trial this week, Manafort?s alleged criminal activity followed a common playbook?money laundering through real estate.
Manafort is accused of laundering money he made while advising a pro-Russian regime in Ukraine by buying and renovating properties in the Brooklyn and Manhattan boroughs of New York City, the Hamptons, and Virginia.
Real estate is often the preferred destination for a financial criminal?s ill-gotten gains for the same reason real estate is attractive to any investor: Real estate prices are generally stable and will appreciate over time. Real estate is also functional; a money launderer could use the property as a second home or rent it out, earning income from the investment. ?You?re not gonna lose money on the transaction,? said Chris Quick, a former FBI agent who now runs a private investigation firm in South Carolina. ?You buy a piece of real estate for a million, you?re gonna get rent on it or you?re hoping it?ll appreciate in value so when you sell 4 or 5 years down the road, you?re gonna make 25 percent on it. That?s one of the reasons why it?s attractive.?
Real estate also offers a path to legitimacy that is more efficien...
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