Wilful Blindness: Money Laundering and the impact it can have

Excerpt:”In order to dig into the study’s implications, I obtained a list of the key properties tied to the core of the casino whale network. These were the properties my sources believed were most important for Canadians to read about. They said the mansions were bought with proceeds from fentanyl, methamphetamine and cocaine sales, prostitution, extortion, illegal casinos and financial fraud.Property records showed that Gao bought this mansion on Matthews Avenue for just $7.5 million in 2011. But after Gao and the network of loan sharks started to run multiple cash loans through the asset, the home was eventually sold in 2016 for $22 million. An obscene $14 million price gain. For me, the price action had broader implications. Some real estate experts told me hot money laundered through a few homes on a high-end Vancouver block can ripple through the whole market, helping to spark speculative frenzy, and pushing benchmark prices for the Vancouver region higher.”(Wilful Blindness, Sam Cooper) https://ift.tt/2SViqHO told me here that BCs property values are high because of its tech and entertainment industry. I laughed hard then, and laughing even harder now after reading this book. via /r/canadahousing https://ift.tt/3AxCXmF