Given the many loopholes of the German real estate sector and laundering the goal of money. It will increasingly invested in foreign money, whose origin is unclear, according to a study by Transparency International. According to estimates, there were in the past year alone, more than 30 billion euros.
investigations in Italy show that the Mafia is trying to legalize enormous sums of money came from the cocaine trade, through the acquisition of real estate. Transparency estimates that 15 to 30 percent of the criminal money are now being invested in real estate through the construction of houses, renovation to the purchase, sale and rent. It is often the case on straw men, which makes the detection difficult.
in mid-October, the head of the anti-money laundering unit FIU (Financial Intelligence Unit), Christof Schulte had warned about an increase in criminal activity in the real estate sector. He called on brokers and notaries to contact in case of suspected cases, often to the FIU, the suspicious movements of money traces. Because of the 60,000 cases reported, by 2017, there have been only around 20 notes of real estate agents on possible money laundering cases.
“There is a massive Problem with money laundering in real estate in Germany”, said the Transparency-Germany-Head Edda Muller. “The applicable laws and the equipment of the determining authorities are also given the boundlessness of international financial flows in any relationship.”
Alone because of the volume of the German real estate market offers a huge potential for money laundering, says the study. Unknown is how much of the foreign legal persons – in Berlin, for example, projects of citizens and the media are, therefore, to the real owners find out. In July of this year, 77 apartments, houses and plots of land were seized, which belonged to a suspected criminal Clan.
again and again, a lack of Federal countries is criticized cooperation. Although the FIU is increased to the coming year to 475, but a spokeswoman for the competent Finance Minister, Olaf Scholz (SPD) referred to the fact that it was primarily a matter of countries, suspicion of view to investigate money laundering in real estate.
Via letter-box companies. behind men are often
Overall, the data basis so far is very bad, even the Federal government can always call again, only estimates of the extent of the problem Transparency calls for notaries the obligation of secrecy should be lifted in case of a suspicion, because you have to do the basic book-entry form directly with sales contracts. In addition, the planned digitisation and centralisation of the basic books would have to be accelerated by the länder, in order to create more transparency. “The Central land register must be made public to allow for verification of owners and money launderers to deter,” urges the author of the study, Markus Henn.
About letter-box companies are often disguised the true men behind and the origin of the money. The Green-financial politician Lisa Paus has called on the Federal government, the issue that contributed to Yes, ultimately increasing Rents and purchase prices, the highest priority. “Germany must serve as a safe haven for dirty money from around the world.” In the real estate sector, we see currently, “how money inflicts wash considerable damage, and that the social peace is endangered”. Central and greater transparency through the establishment of a real estate register, according to the British model. “Only the one who puts his finances and of the men behind the open, should have the right to buy in Germany real estate”, called Paus. This is the only way to get an Overview of “who buys the German cities”.
