Years before President Donald Trump embarked on a campaign to oust Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the real estate mogul’s business was selling condominiums to the strongman’s supporters.
At least half a dozen Venezuelans linked to either Maduro or his predecessor, dictator Hugo Chavez, purchased Trump condos in New York City and South Florida prior to Trump becoming president, according to property records. Several of the individuals faced serious allegations of — and even pleaded guilty to — the type of financial fraud in Venezuela that Trump now regularly decries.
While the sales themselves weren’t illegal, the buyers’ backgrounds and purchase methods made the transactions suspicious, according to financial fraud experts. They noted that many of the purchases were made above the apparent market value, fully in cash or using shell companies to obscure identities — all potential signs of money laundering, the experts said.
The sales have raised questions about whether some of these Venezuelan purchasers were buying Trump properties in order to store ill-gotten gains offshore — an issue Trump as president has vowed to address.
“Millions of Venezuelans are starving and suffering while a small handful at the top of the Maduro regime plunder the nation into poverty and into death,” he said in a February speech in Miami. “We know who they are, and we know where they keep the billions of dollars that they have stolen.”
The purchases are yet another example of Trump’s long, complex — and often hidden — foreign business record gaining new scrutiny and relevance because of his presidency. Some instances have promoted fears that Trump is going easy on foreign leaders because of his personal business interests. Other cases have revealed the head-spinning nature of a freewheeling businessman suddenly having to lead the U.S. against former business partners.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/04/trump-real-estate-regime-venezuela-1445264
Anyone surprised?
At least half a dozen Venezuelans linked to either Maduro or his predecessor, dictator Hugo Chavez, purchased Trump condos in New York City and South Florida prior to Trump becoming president, according to property records. Several of the individuals faced serious allegations of — and even pleaded guilty to — the type of financial fraud in Venezuela that Trump now regularly decries.
While the sales themselves weren’t illegal, the buyers’ backgrounds and purchase methods made the transactions suspicious, according to financial fraud experts. They noted that many of the purchases were made above the apparent market value, fully in cash or using shell companies to obscure identities — all potential signs of money laundering, the experts said.
The sales have raised questions about whether some of these Venezuelan purchasers were buying Trump properties in order to store ill-gotten gains offshore — an issue Trump as president has vowed to address.
“Millions of Venezuelans are starving and suffering while a small handful at the top of the Maduro regime plunder the nation into poverty and into death,” he said in a February speech in Miami. “We know who they are, and we know where they keep the billions of dollars that they have stolen.”
The purchases are yet another example of Trump’s long, complex — and often hidden — foreign business record gaining new scrutiny and relevance because of his presidency. Some instances have promoted fears that Trump is going easy on foreign leaders because of his personal business interests. Other cases have revealed the head-spinning nature of a freewheeling businessman suddenly having to lead the U.S. against former business partners.
https://www.politico.com/story/2019/08/04/trump-real-estate-regime-venezuela-1445264
Anyone surprised?
