Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers [View all]
Source: BuzzFeed News
A BuzzFeed News review of every sale of a Trump-branded condominium in the United States provides the first comprehensive look at how many went to unidentified buyers who paid cash, an indication of possible money laundering.
More than one-fifth of Donald Trumps US condominiums have been purchased since the 1980s in secretive, all-cash transactions that enable buyers to avoid legal scrutiny by shielding their finances and identities, a BuzzFeed News investigation has found.
Records show that more than 1,300 Trump condominiums were bought not by people but by shell companies, and that the purchases were made without a mortgage, avoiding inquiries from lenders.
Those two characteristics signal that a buyer may be laundering money, the Treasury Department has said in a series of statements since 2016. Treasurys financial-crimes unit has, in recent years, launched investigations around the country into all-cash shell-company real-estate purchases amid concerns that some such sales may involve money laundering. The agency is considering requiring real-estate professionals to adopt anti-money-laundering programs.
Read more: https://www.buzzfeed.com/thomasfrank/secret-money-how-trump-made-millions-selling-condos-to?utm_term=.ne9bKOnQee#.vfqlwKXNzz
I hope Mueller's team is investigating these sales, too.
Good for BuzzFeed!