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Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright
^^^ If it were all illegitimate money, then the scheme wouldn't work. The idea is if you get enough big money in one place, then it is really easy to slide not so legit big money in and out of the project. If I'm a Russian billionaire and I secretly buy into a NYC condo project and then sell a few years later to someone else who is completely legitimate for $100 million, then I now have a $100 million pile of completely legit cash if I properly report it and pay my taxes. Real Estate is a great way to launder huge amounts of money because it is so valuable and appreciates and depreciates so rapidly. It's very hard to prove where any of it came from if I bought something and it appreciates and then I sell it. Once the money has been in one legitimate transaction, then it is difficult to determine it's origins before that transaction. So you need legitimate buyers and sellers in these buildings who don't care where the money is coming from or going to so the illegitimate money can be washed clean.
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There are probably some cases of this, but the projects aren't really being done with the idea of attracting illegal money. I don't see Barnett out there inviting illegal money into his projects, although I doubt he asks tons of questions where the money is coming from. And so, we don't want Russian money in our buildings? Do you honestly think those kind of investors don't feel safer having their money in the US than some economically sketchy foreign country? Some of these investors would be investing in Europe right now, but Europe's economy isn't doing as well as the US's has been.
The Spire is the kind of project that would interest global investors right now.