FLASHBACK: Russian elite invested nearly $100 million in Trump buildings

[demmiblue]

A Reuters review found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida.

MIAMI/MOSCOW – During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald J. Trump downplayed his business ties with Russia. And since taking office as president, he has been even more emphatic.

“I can tell you, speaking for myself, I own nothing in Russia,” President Trump said at a news conference last month. “I have no loans in Russia. I don’t have any deals in Russia.”

But in the United States, members of the Russian elite have invested in Trump buildings. A Reuters review has found that at least 63 individuals with Russian passports or addresses have bought at least $98.4 million worth of property in seven Trump-branded luxury towers in southern Florida, according to public documents, interviews and corporate records.

The buyers include politically connected businessmen, such as a former executive in a Moscow-based state-run construction firm that works on military and intelligence facilities, the founder of a St. Petersburg investment bank and the co-founder of a conglomerate with interests in banking, property and electronics.

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/usa-trump-property/

[Botany]

1. Those were not investments into TFG's real estate properties but using those properties to ....

...launder the money they had stolen from the people of Russia and to get it out of Russia too.

[Cracklin Charlie]

2. 100 million?

That’s real money!

[Scrivener7]

3. Turn them into homeless shelters and group homes.

[MissMillie]

4. I was remembering this stuff just yesterday. (n/t)

.