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OT: Coincidence?
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Alan Baker
Jun 14, 2017, 3:15:42 PM6/14/17
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Judge for yourselves...
'Since President Trump won the Republican nomination, the majority of
his companies’ real estate sales are to secretive shell companies that
obscure the buyers’ identities, a USA TODAY investigation has found.
Over the last 12 months, about 70% of buyers of Trump properties were
limited liability companies – corporate entities that allow people to
purchase property without revealing all of the owners’ names. That
compares with about 4% of buyers in the two years before.'
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/06/13/trump-property-buyers-make-clear-shift-secretive-llcs/102399558/>
'Since Election Day, Trump’s businesses have sold 28 of those U.S.
properties for $33 million. The sales include luxury condos and
penthouses in Las Vegas and New York and oceanfront lots near Los
Angeles. The value of his companies' inventory of available real estate
remains above a quarter-billion dollars.
Profits from sales of those properties flow through a trust run by
Trump’s sons. The president is the sole beneficiary of the trust and can
withdraw cash any time.
The increasing share of opaque buyers comes at a time when federal
investigators, members of Congress and ethics watchdogs are asking
questions about Trump's sales and customers in the U.S. and around the
world. Some Congressional Democrats have been asking for more detail
about buyers of Trump’s domestic real estate since USA TODAY’s initial
report.
The real estate cache, which Trump has never fully revealed and is not
required by law to disclose, offers unique opportunity for anyone to
steer money to a sitting President. The increase in purchasers shielded
by LLCs makes it far more difficult to track who is paying the President
and his companies for properties ranging in price from $220,000 to $10
million – or more.
The clear post-nomination shift since last year to more shell-company
purchases is unique to sales by Trump’s companies, even in his own
towers and neighborhoods. Condos owned by others in the same buildings,
and sold during the same time period, were bought by LLCs in no more
than 20% of the transactions. In some areas, the share was far less.
“If what’s going on is somebody is buying something from The Trump
Organization to buy favor, there’s no way you’d ever figure out who that
person is or what favor they’re trying to buy,” said Jack Blum, a
Washington attorney specializing in offshore tax evasion and financial
crime and former staff lawyer for two U.S. Senate committees.'
'Since President Trump won the Republican nomination, the majority of
his companies’ real estate sales are to secretive shell companies that
obscure the buyers’ identities, a USA TODAY investigation has found.
Over the last 12 months, about 70% of buyers of Trump properties were
limited liability companies – corporate entities that allow people to
purchase property without revealing all of the owners’ names. That
compares with about 4% of buyers in the two years before.'
<https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/06/13/trump-property-buyers-make-clear-shift-secretive-llcs/102399558/>
'Since Election Day, Trump’s businesses have sold 28 of those U.S.
properties for $33 million. The sales include luxury condos and
penthouses in Las Vegas and New York and oceanfront lots near Los
Angeles. The value of his companies' inventory of available real estate
remains above a quarter-billion dollars.
Profits from sales of those properties flow through a trust run by
Trump’s sons. The president is the sole beneficiary of the trust and can
withdraw cash any time.
The increasing share of opaque buyers comes at a time when federal
investigators, members of Congress and ethics watchdogs are asking
questions about Trump's sales and customers in the U.S. and around the
world. Some Congressional Democrats have been asking for more detail
about buyers of Trump’s domestic real estate since USA TODAY’s initial
report.
The real estate cache, which Trump has never fully revealed and is not
required by law to disclose, offers unique opportunity for anyone to
steer money to a sitting President. The increase in purchasers shielded
by LLCs makes it far more difficult to track who is paying the President
and his companies for properties ranging in price from $220,000 to $10
million – or more.
The clear post-nomination shift since last year to more shell-company
purchases is unique to sales by Trump’s companies, even in his own
towers and neighborhoods. Condos owned by others in the same buildings,
and sold during the same time period, were bought by LLCs in no more
than 20% of the transactions. In some areas, the share was far less.
“If what’s going on is somebody is buying something from The Trump
Organization to buy favor, there’s no way you’d ever figure out who that
person is or what favor they’re trying to buy,” said Jack Blum, a
Washington attorney specializing in offshore tax evasion and financial
crime and former staff lawyer for two U.S. Senate committees.'
Carbon
Jun 14, 2017, 8:34:03 PM6/14/17
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