Venable partner Ed Wilson and counsel Andrew Bigart were quoted in an October 3, 2016 article in The Real Deal on anti-money laundering efforts in luxury real estate. Earlier this year, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) launched a pilot program to track luxury residential property purchases made by shell companies in New York and Miami. The program has since expanded to parts of California and Texas.
"Anyone who's interested in money laundering will find the path of least resistance," said Bigart. "As FinCEN has tightened the gaps with residential, it's possible you might see some of that money flow into the commercial real estate sector."
"When you’re someone who's in desperate need of capital, it’s hard to ask tough questions," said Wilson. Referring to a high profile case involving laundered cash from a state-investor Malaysian economic development fund, he added, "I look at 1MDB and think some of these people involved probably had an idea."