Left to rot: Collapsed condo born of botched construction and evidence of money laundering

[Nevilledog]

Link to tweet

Tweet text:
Nate Sibley
@NateSibley
The Miami condo that collapsed in June, killing 98 people, was apparently built to launder cartel funds in the 1980s.

Developers accordingly cut corners—critical defects that accelerated the building’s demise.

Money laundering is not a victimless crime.

Left to rot: Collapsed condo born of botched construction and evidence of money laundering
Shell companies, cash deals, fast sales, strange buyers. USA TODAY found early condo sales exhibit tell-tale signs of a money laundering scheme.
usatoday.com
4:48 PM · Oct 15, 2021

https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/10/14/money-laundering-evident-collapsed-surfside-condo-building/5798385001/

No paywall
https://archive.is/jCi3i

WHEN CHAMPLAIN Towers South ascended from the beachfront 40 years ago in the quaint Miami suburb of Surfside, the new condominium gleamed with promise.

It was the first swanky high-rise condo in the tiny town, and it solidified the neighborhood as a gathering place for the rich and famous such as Frank Sinatra, who hung out down the road. For its residents – from millionaire cocaine smugglers to family vacationers – it was all about landing their little slice of paradise.

But even before developers sold off the 136 condominiums to their first owners, the construction had been botched and the building had been set on a course to rot from the foundation up, a USA TODAY investigation shows.

USA TODAY set out to compile a complete accounting of the forces at work on the building that collapsed June 24, killing 98 people. Reporters pored over thousands of pages of documents, including deeds, inspection records and homeowner association minutes. They interviewed dozens of people, including money laundering and engineering experts and residents who called the building home from its birth in 1981 to its deadly end in 2021.

*snip*

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Money laundering maybe wouldn't have been important here but for the War on Drugs, just sayin (nt)

[hunter]

6. The "war on drugs" was a price support scheme...

... for those with connections to our own government.

Just another way to fund the dirty stuff "off the books."

[JanMichael]

3. So much of South Florida back in the '70s and '80s was drug money.

Move there in the late '80s and ran into a bunch of people I went to school with who's parents were actually in prison for cocaine and marijuana importation and got caught. Those were the low-level people the big money built condos. Lots of them. That place is full of f****** criminals.

[bullwinkle428]

4. I can't imagine the people living in that building's twin, constructed at

the same time, are sleeping well tonight.

[tulipsandroses]

5. Not surprising. It's long been said that Cocaine built Miami

And boosted Miami’s economy. There was big money being made. It’s mentioned in Cocaine Cowboys . I haven’t seen the new Netflix Cocaine Cowboys series. I watched the original documentary years ago. This very building is mentioned in the Netflix series.
Real estate agents have talked about people buying homes for hundreds of thousands of dollars or even million dollar homes in cash in the 80’s

[bluecollar2]

7. Miami-Dade was dope money and Batista Cubans during the 70s and 80s

Today its Batista Cubans and Venezuelan Petro-dollars...

Nothing's changed.

[LittleGirl]

8. Wow. So sad for those poor victims. eom

[DENVERPOPS]

9. Interesting

And I thought the best way to launder corrupt revenue was to use it to build golf courses and resorts.......

[Celerity]

10. K & R (plus thank you for the archive links you have started doing)

[Nevilledog]

13. I got frustrated that everyone couldn't read the articles

I cleared it with the admin first.

[Celerity]

14. +1

[MerryBlooms]

11. r&k

[calimary]

12. Oh MAN - this is so awful!

Especially when it was preventable!

Greed and short-term profits. That's all that seems to be important anymore.

[FelineOverlord]

15. A Trump-connected UAE billionaire just bought that property.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet