Laundering Stolen Money From U.S.And Around The World Pushes Housing And Land Prices In Israel And Occupied Palestine Sky High

Laundering  Stolen Money From U.S.And Around The World Pushes Israeli Housing And Land Prices In Occupied Palestine Sky High

Ilegal settlements on Palestinian land funded by Israeli American Sheldon and other Israeli mafia in U.S.gambling,money laundering also buys U.S.politicians....

From the snowy Alps to the banks of Tel Aviv

Israelis working off-books are one thing; foreign residents are another. If once they were ascribed romantic reasons for buying dwellings in Israel, or at least they were considered to be fleeing anti-Semitism, a sober look today shows a lot of them are laundering ill-gotten gains.

Following a leak of information from Swiss banks to the American and French tax authorities, people with dodgy money began pulling it out of Switzerland – and some of that money reached the Israeli property market, according to a variety of sources. How much came is anybody’s guess, says Snir, but whispers put the amount at 8-9 billion shekels. -Israel's Haaretz newpaper

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Israeli housing prices: Skyrocketing on fuel of undeclared income

Haaretz-Sep 11, 2014Share

How do people buy property for investment in Israel? Usually, using “black money” – undeclared income that they're laundering by buying 

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Apr 2, 2014 - Impresario: Sheldon Adelson, the Vegas-Macau casino mogul ... “Would you slink into Las Vegas to schmooze gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson who ...Israeli settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

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Israeli housing prices: Skyrocketing on fuel of undeclared income

Haaretz-Sep 11, 2014Share

How do people buy property for investment in Israel? Usually, using “black money” – undeclared income that they're laundering by buying 

http://www.haaretz.com/business/.premium-1.615296

Israeli housing prices: Skyrocketing on fuel of undeclared income

Tens of billions of shekels in laundered 'black money’ is pushing the real-estate market higher.

By Arik Mirovsky | Sep. 11, 2014 

From the snowy Alps to the banks of Tel Aviv

Israelis working off-books are one thing; foreign residents are another. If once they were ascribed romantic reasons for buying dwellings in Israel, or at least they were considered to be fleeing anti-Semitism, a sober look today shows a lot of them are laundering ill-gotten gains.

Following a leak of information from Swiss banks to the American and French tax authorities, people with dodgy money began pulling it out of Switzerland – and some of that money reached the Israeli property market, according to a variety of sources. How much came is anybody’s guess, says Snir, but whispers put the amount at 8-9 billion shekels. The money was apparently transferred to Israeli banks, which quickly got itchy and advised their new clients that if the money stayed, they – the banks – would have to report it to the foreign authorities, and urged their new clients to move that money elsewhere, pronto, Snir explains.

Tamar Waldman, assistant legal adviser to the attorney general on money-laundering, says most of the ill-gotten gains spent on housing is made in Israel, but people do transfer undeclared income abroad to Israel, and some get caught trying to smuggle in cash. When asked what they meant to do with the money, some openly admit they meant to buy housing, she says.

In short, a lot of the money being used here by foreign investors isn’t kosher, sums up Lior Tabori, economic adviser to the finance minister, and hints that Israel has been turning a blind eye to the issue.

“Most nonresident investors are Jews. Israel needs to decide whether we want this money or not,” says Tabori. “On the one hand, suggestions are raised to fine them; on the other, we protect them in every way possible. When they bring money here, we don’t tell their countries of origin. We invite them to come and deposit the money here. They don’t have to report a thing. It’s time Israel made a decision if this is desirable or not.”

New homes under construction in Herzliya. Photo by Ofer Vaknin

How do people buy property for investment in Israel? Usually, using “black money” – undeclared income that they’re laundering by buying apartments for investment, according to the Tax Authority. No small amount of that money goes to paying workers under the table: An economist reports that even though the Israeli construction industry has lost about 20,000 “wet workers” going by their tax statements, or 40% of the workforce, the pace of construction hasn’t changed. As that can’t be, clearly, there’s a lot of work being done off the books.

Top tax officials admit they’re well aware that vast sums get smuggled into the country and are subsequently laundered through real-estate transactions. Many billions of shekels have been sneaked into the property market this way, and this inundation of “black money” is one of the factors behind the jump in housing prices.

The study by the revenues office at the Tax Authority found that between July 2012 and July 2014 about 50,000 dwellings were bought for investment purposes (i.e., not to live in). Of those, 30,000 were bought by 27,000 buyers.

When the tax people looked at the income of the households buying these dwellings for investment, they found that in 18% of the cases they grossed no more than 7,000 shekels a month (about $1,950).

Now remember, these are dwellings bought for investment, which means the buyers already own one home. So how can households grossing 7,000 shekels a month buy a second home? They cannot. Ergo, that 7,000 shekels is just a fraction of what the household is making, but the rest is going unreported. Or alternatively, the household is fronting for the real buyer, who has his own reasons for staying undercover and not being registered as the home’s owner.

A similar study of property buyers from 2003 to 2012, also by the Tax Authority, found that of the 136,135 apartments bought for investment, nearly 20% were bought by people grossing no more than 7,000 shekels a month. In fact, their average monthly income was 4,093 shekels ($1,132), while the average apartment they bought cost 828,295 shekels (about $230,000).

Ostensibly the two studies produced the same result, but there is a big difference between them: The households made much the same; but housing cost much, much more in 2012-2014 compared with 2003-2012, which means, the Tax Authority concluded, that the problem of illicit money being laundered through the property market has grown much worse.............

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