Canadian anti-money laundering agency releases guide on suspicious real-estate transactions
FINTRAC explains that money laundering “affects society in many ways”.
“As an example, in the real estate sector, the injection of illicit funds into the housing market can artificially inflate selling prices thus making homes affordable, and increase the risk of investment losses when criminals move their operations to other markets,” the federal agency points out.
One indicator of possible money laundering is when a transaction is completed “anonymously, in collusion or innocently, through lawyer or notary”. In this case, money is deposited into a trust account of a lawyer or a notary.
Another is the speed of the transaction: “Clients show considerable interest in transactions relating to buildings in particular areas without caring about the price they have to pay.”
The guide made two references to foreign buyers.
In one, the foreign buyer, who may be an individual or company, is “from a jurisdiction with strict bank secrecy laws, weak anti-money laundering regimes, or with a high level of political corruption”.
In the second, the foreign buyer has no connection to Canada except for the real estate transaction.
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