Governments came together to discuss the ease with which criminals have been able to use real estate as a means of investing their ill-gotten wealth. Mansion Global pointed out a few properties, including a Shaugnessy, Vancouver mansion, a Riverside Boulevard, Manhattan penthouse, and a five-bedroom property in Knightsbridge, London.
Money laundering and real estate have been badly tagged together through these actions by criminals. Worldwide estimates peg the money thrown around in pursuit of this to be around US$1.6 trillion per year. Accuity, a global risk and compliance company, is keeping close tabs on the situation through findings that it issues regularly about the state of this unfortunate connection with the industry.
Accuity's vice president of commercial strategy Patrick Hinchin said that a few countries such as Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States have some properties brought by criminal money. Money laundering was the least of the problems in these countries, as these criminals can easily commit illicit activities through their properties.
Canada is unfortunate enough to belong to the list, according to Global News. It is one of the countries with an unfortunate record of unsuccessfully convicting money launderers and criminals. Figures have also shown that almost 3/4 of those caught manages to escape scot-free, the report further states.
In a period spanning 2000 to 2016, the country had 321 guilty verdicts connected to cases of money laundering, according to Statistics Canada data. However, there are also 809 cases where the charges were either stayed, withdrawn, or dismissed. Taking this into account, the conviction rate stands at around 27 percent; far fewer than other recorded crimes in the country with a rate of 63 percent conviction.
This data was looked into amid a scandal involving properties brought by money laundering and organized crime payouts. The numbers are adding up; it shows that there's a problem connected to this sector in the country and among its provinces.
In the US, meanwhile, money laundering had long been a problem. In an effort to keep the growing 'problem' controlled, the FinCEN, investigatory arm of the US Treasury Department, issued a directive which managed to lower the financial amount required by property companies. This helps detect the people who manage to create purchases above $300,000--perhaps a look into illegally-funded purchases.
With such problems, real estate developers are now encouraged to further commit stricter due diligence checks on people purchasing properties, as well as with transactions that hint at something illegal. Failure to comply is subject to sizeable fines.
