Real-Estate

Larry Ellison Buys $277 Million Florida Resort Near Mar-a-Lago, $450M Total Investment

| Importance: 7/10

Oracle Chairman Larry Ellison purchased the Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa in Manalapan, Florida, for $277 million in August 2024, bringing his total real estate investment in the exclusive 400-resident island town to $450 million. Located approximately 20 minutes from Donald Trump’s …

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Boston Fed President Rosengren Resigns Over REIT Trading Scandal

| Importance: 8/10

In September 2021, Boston Federal Reserve President Eric Rosengren resigned amid a trading scandal revealing he actively traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and mortgage-backed securities during 2020, while the Federal Reserve was simultaneously purchasing such assets. A 2024 watchdog …

Eric Rosengren Federal Reserve Bank of Boston Robert Kaplan Jerome Powell federal-reserve trading-scandal conflict-of-interest eric-rosengren boston-fed +3 more
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Brookfield takes 99‑year lease on Kushner's 666 Fifth Ave; role of Qatar-linked funds disputed

| Importance: 9/10

Brookfield acquired a 99‑year leasehold on the office portion of 666 Fifth Avenue from Kushner Companies, resolving a distressed financing situation. Public records and press accounts note that Qatar’s sovereign fund (QIA) was a major investor in Brookfield Property Partners, while Brookfield …

Brookfield Asset Management Kushner Companies Qatar Investment Authority Sen. Ron Wyden conflicts foreign-influence real-estate qatar
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Reuters finds Russians paid $98.4 million for Trump-branded Florida condos

| Importance: 8/10

Reuters investigation revealed at least 63 Russian nationals invested $98.4 million in Trump-branded properties in South Florida, primarily in Sunny Isles Beach. The buyers purchased units at Trump Grande, Trump Towers, and Trump Hollywood, with about one-third of all units owned through LLCs that …

Donald Trump Trump Organization Russian buyers Reuters russian-money real-estate money-laundering sunny-isles-beach shell-companies
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Harlan Crow Purchases Clarence Thomas's Mother's House in Undisclosed Deal

| Importance: 9/10

Crow company purchases properties from Thomas and relatives for $133,363 including house where Thomas’s mother lives, marking first known direct money transfer from donor to justice

Clarence Thomas Harlan Crow Leola Williams (Thomas's mother) Crow Holdings judicial-capture supreme-court real-estate undisclosed-transactions financial-corruption +1 more
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Anonymous LLCs Enable $300B+ Annual Russian Money Flow into US Real Estate

| Importance: 9/10

By 2014, anonymous Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and shell companies had become the primary infrastructure enabling Russian oligarchs and other kleptocrats to launder an estimated $300 billion or more annually into US real estate. Unlike most developed nations, the United States imposed no …

U.S. Treasury FinCEN Russian Oligarchs US real estate industry money-laundering russian-oligarchs real-estate shell-companies fincen +3 more
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Trump sells Palm Beach 'Maison de L'Amitié' to Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95M

| Importance: 6/10

Donald Trump sold the Palm Beach estate to Russian businessman Dmitry Rybolovlev for $95 million in July 2008. The structure was demolished in 2016 and the land subdivided; subsequent lot sales totaled roughly $108 million.

Dmitry Rybolovlev Donald Trump Trump Organization russian-oligarchs financial-crimes epstein-network money-laundering real-estate +1 more
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Trump Outbids Epstein for Palm Beach Mansion, Ending Friendship

| Importance: 8/10

Donald Trump purchased Maison de l’Amitié for $41.35 million at a November 30, 2004 bankruptcy auction, outbidding Jeffrey Epstein who went up to $38.6 million. During the auction, Epstein’s attorneys tried to disqualify Trump over title insurance demands, but Judge Steven Friedman …

Donald Trump Jeffrey Epstein Judge Steven Friedman Joseph Luzinski (bankruptcy trustee) Abraham Gosman (former owner) +1 more money-laundering russian-money real-estate epstein-network
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Whitewater Investigation Launches Under Special Counsel Robert Fiske

| Importance: 7/10

Attorney General Janet Reno appoints Robert Fiske, a moderate Republican and former U.S. Attorney, as special counsel to investigate the Whitewater controversy involving President Bill Clinton and First Lady Hillary Clinton. The investigation focuses on the Clintons’ 1978 investment in the …

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Trump Plaza Hotel in Manhattan Files for Bankruptcy Protection

| Importance: 6/10

The Plaza Hotel in Manhattan, the iconic luxury property Trump had purchased in 1988 for $407.5 million, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 1992 under the weight of over $550 million in debt. Trump had financed the purchase almost entirely with borrowed money, and the …

Donald Trump Trump Plaza Hotel bankruptcy business failure new york hotels financial history +2 more
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Trump's Six Bankruptcies: Pattern of Borrowing Heavily and Walking Away

| Importance: 7/10

Between 1991 and 2009, Donald Trump’s hotel and casino businesses filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection six times, establishing a clear pattern: borrow heavily using high-interest debt and other people’s money, operate businesses unprofitably or make unrealistic revenue projections, …

Donald Trump bankruptcy business failure atlantic city casinos financial history +3 more
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Florida Land Boom Epitomizes Unregulated Speculation and Securities Fraud

| Importance: 7/10

The Florida land boom reaches its speculative peak in 1925, with real estate transactions totaling an estimated $7 billion (equivalent to over $120 billion today) in a single year. Developers like Carl Fisher (Miami Beach), George Merrick (Coral Gables), and Addison Mizner (Boca Raton) orchestrate …

Carl Fisher George Merrick Addison Mizner Florida Legislature financial-speculation regulatory-failure securities-fraud real-estate predatory-finance
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