WASHINGTON—U.S. real estate has become the top destination for laundered dirty money, a new report reveals.
A newly released report by Global Financial Integrity describes how dirty money has flowed through U.S. real estate, and it stressed the need for more robust and targeted regulations and reform of current practices in real estate, OCCRP.com reported.
The conclusion was made after an analysis of a database of more than 100 real estate money laundering cases from the U.S., UK, and Canada from 2015 to 2020.
“The findings of the report demonstrate that the current approach of the U.S. is woefully inadequate, and that the country’s real estate sector poses significant national security risks by continuing to be a safe haven for criminals and kleptocrats,” the report reads.
At least $2.3 billion has been laundered over the past five years through U.S. real estate, according to the report, though the estimate, which draws only on reported and known cases of money laundering, is almost certainly just a fraction of the real amount, OCCRP stated.
By comparison, in the same timeframe, at least $1.1 billion and $626 million were laundered in the U.K. and Canada, respectively.