USA Today: Extensive Investigation of Champlain Tower Condo Collapse

[UpInArms]

When Champlain Towers South ascended from the beachfront 40 years ago in the quaint Miami suburb of Surfside, the new condominium gleamed with promise.

It was the first swanky high-rise condo in the tiny town, and it solidified the neighborhood as a gathering place for the rich and famous such as Frank Sinatra, who hung out down the road. For its residents – from millionaire cocaine smugglers to family vacationers – it was all about landing their little slice of paradise.

But even before developers sold off the 136 condominiums to their first owners, the construction had been botched and the building had been set on a course to rot from the foundation up, a USA TODAY investigation shows.

… snip …

The reporting reveals for the first time that early condo sales exhibit tell-tale signs of a money laundering scheme. Experts said cutting corners on construction often accompanied money laundering. At Champlain South, engineers noted an incorrectly designed pool deck and improperly constructed support columns. Money laundering might have meant that some early buyers weren’t living in the condo building or concerned with its long-term maintenance.

"The era we’re talking about is when Miami suddenly came out of the ashes. So how do you rush to fulfill the demand? You cut corners. You attached roofs with paper clips. You bribe the inspectors," said Jorge Valdes, who was not involved in Champlain South but helped build dozens of homes, apartment complexes and high-rises in the Miami region as a chief money launderer for the Medellin Cartel.

Much much more at:

https://autos.yahoo.com/autos/left-rot-collapsed-condo-born-090209489.html

[malaise]

1. The first link I posted when it fell was to the Cocaine Cowboys

Ah well!

[UpInArms]

2. I remember your post ...

Many of us were connecting the dots …

[malaise]

4. Indeed

[Buckeye_Democrat]

3. The garage ceiling and pool deck were connected.

I pointed that out on DU when video showed the concrete deck around the pool was the first to collapse, and someone acted like I was an insane idiot to even think it was connected to the concrete garage ceiling.

By 1996, according to permits for the work, contractors were already making major repairs to the concrete in the garage ceiling, the underbelly of the improperly designed pool deck. It was just 15 years after the building had opened and already concrete at its base was falling apart.

[Kid Berwyn]

5. There it is.

“The Latin American drug cartels have stretched their tentacles much deeper into our lives than most people believe. It's possible they are calling the shots at all levels of government.” — William Colby, former Director of the CIA