- Organized crime in the real estate market
- This is “malignant cancer on our economy and our society”, Attorney General
Bitcoin has been bashed by government officials and big names on the grounds that it is used for money laundering and as a result, should be banned.
But looking at the money laundering facts, Bitcoin has nothing on the other industries which we have already seen billions of dollars slapped on them. We already know the extent banks are involved in money laundering including the names like HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citibank, JP Morgan and others.
Danske Bank that was the Europe's biggest money laundering scandal recently charged its ten managers for the same. The banking industry, as a matter of fact, is eyeballs deep in money laundering.
Dirty Real Estate Dealings
The latest in the long list of billions of dollars money laundry cases is real estate. According to an independent report published by an expert panel led by former B.C. deputy attorney general Maureen Maloney, $7.4 billion was laundered in British Columbia, a province of Canada.
“Wealthy criminals and those attempting to evade taxes have had the run of our province for too long, to the point that they are now distorting our economy, hurting families looking for housing, and impacting those who have lost loved ones due to the opioid overdose (crisis),” said Attorney General David Eby in a news conference Thursday.
The report came after the government commissioned them to shed light on the laundering by organized crime in the real estate market of BC.
“Malignant Cancer on our Economy and our Society”
RCMP Commissioner Peter German who was commissioned to write the report on real estate, concluded that illicit money led to the “a frenzy of buying” that caused the housing prices to spike around Metro Vancouver. The report further concludes that thousands of properties worth billions are at risk for money laundering.
“His findings are stark evidence of the consequences of an absence of oversight, the weakness of data collection, and the total indifference of governments until now to this malignant cancer on our economy and our society,” further said Eby.
It has been also noted some criminal laundering money through the luxury car sector are even getting sales tax rebates.
Whether it’s banking, real estate or any other sector, each one is rampant with money laundering issues, more so than the crypto industry where Bitcoin is the predominant digital currency used to launder money.
However, in other cases, officials and industry people work together on the solution, unlike with crypto industry where officials propose an outright ban.
