Two announcements recently made by the Government of Portugal have me asking whether the country's highly-successful Golden Visa program was a major contributor to an explosion of money laundering there. It is curious that the country abruptly cancelled its Golden Visa program, alleging that it pushed housing costs through the roof, at the same time it reported the statistics on suspicious activities, and seized assets, relating to money laundering and sanctions evasion.
Remember that successful money laundering in any jurisdiction always leads to higher prices, as individuals who have cleaned their proceeds of crime often pay higher than top dollar, to secure the best real estate, which is thereafter not available to legitimate buyers at a reasonable price. They also snap up many available properties, leaving only the less attractive ones in the marketplace.
So we ask the question: were laundered funds, which pushed up prices as well as decrease the supply of desirable real estate, also going into Golden Visa applications, which were approved? In this case, did economic passports cause money laundering?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.