Limited real estate data in Australia, Canada, UK and US makes tracking down corrupt more difficult
For kleptocrats, real estate is much more than a roof over their heads.
Buying property is one of the favourite methods for corrupt officials – from Gabon all the way to Venezuela – to launder ill-gotten gains. As a bonus, by investing in the world’s most sought-after cities, they can get even richer. In some European Union countries, they can even bet on acquiring residency or citizenship rights.
At the same time, major cities like London, San Francisco, Sydney and Vancouver are becoming increasingly unaffordable for ordinary people, contributing to the often-ignored crisis – homelessness.
Real estate data is an underrated mechanism for solving the problem that affects us all: from low-income countries suffering from capital flight to the advanced economies whose property markets are bursting with dirty cash.
Eye on the prize
When public officials take bribes or steal from the people they are meant to serve, the money usually has to be cleaned before it can be enjoyed.
In 2017, Transparency International looked at the real estate sector in four key markets to see just how resilient they are to dirty money.
Our report, Doors wide open, identified significant anti-money laundering weaknesses that enable corrupt individuals and other criminals to easily purchase luxurious properties anonymously and hide their stolen money in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Eye on the prize
When public officials take bribes or steal from the people they are meant to serve, the money usually has to be cleaned before it can be enjoyed.
In 2017, Transparency International looked at the real estate sector in four key markets to see just how resilient they are to dirty money.
Our report, Doors wide open, identified significant anti-money laundering weaknesses that enable corrupt individuals and other criminals to easily purchase luxurious properties anonymously and hide their stolen money in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
AUSTRALIA
Who really owns properties in Australia and the extent of money laundering through its real estate remains a pandora’s box, including to the authorities.
We looked at available real estate data in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria and found that none collect or disclose information on the real individuals owning properties.
Australia does not have a beneficial ownership register to collect this information, nor does it require real estate agents, lawyers and accountants involved in real estate deals to identify the beneficial owners of legal entity clients.
This makes Australia a go-to destination for money laundering in the property market, especially for the proceeds of corruption in the Asia-Pacific region.
The power of real estate data
Real estate data can be a powerful tool for detecting potential money laundering and other criminal activities.
Access to property-related data – such as legal and beneficial ownership, historical ownership data, value and dates of purchase – can go a long way towards exposing corruption risks and money laundering red flags for authorities, journalists and activists.
In Brazil, for example, the availability of ownership data, price paid and dates of purchase of real estate properties in the State of Rio de Janeiro served to identify a potential money laundering scheme involving the son of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Across borders, shining a light on the laundered wealth of the corrupt and curbing their use of real estate for concealing and stashing their illicit gains depends on reforms in jurisdictions like Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and the United States. (via Transparency InternationaL)