"Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M?
NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k"
NOPE Not fraud, this is money laundering, baby!
Overvaluing a property to receive a loan is one thing.
Actually selling a property worth $1m for $17m?? Ha! It makes less sense than buying a Hunter Biden painting.
Is it a crime to sell something to a fool who is willing to pay far more than the real value? Sure it may be unethical, but isn't value based on what someone is willing to pay for it?
When the purchaser sells the property later for a loss, I presume they will write that off on their taxes. So who (over)paid for this property? You did.
"writing it off on their taxes" doesn't negate the damage of a failed investment/gamble. Sure it will lead to them paying less taxes, as it did for Trump all the years where he paid little taxes, but I don't see it as anything more than a failure on the purchaser's part.
An overpayment of 25% is a failure. When you overpay by multiples of the value it is a bribe, a payoff, or money laundering. Local politicians do this all the time.
"Did @jonstewart commit fraud when he sold his penthouse for $17.5M?
NY listed its market value at $1.8M an AV at around 800k"
NOPE Not fraud, this is money laundering, baby!
Overvaluing a property to receive a loan is one thing. Actually selling a property worth $1m for $17m?? Ha! It makes less sense than buying a Hunter Biden painting.
Is it a crime to sell something to a fool who is willing to pay far more than the real value? Sure it may be unethical, but isn't value based on what someone is willing to pay for it?
When the purchaser sells the property later for a loss, I presume they will write that off on their taxes. So who (over)paid for this property? You did.
"writing it off on their taxes" doesn't negate the damage of a failed investment/gamble. Sure it will lead to them paying less taxes, as it did for Trump all the years where he paid little taxes, but I don't see it as anything more than a failure on the purchaser's part.
An overpayment of 25% is a failure. When you overpay by multiples of the value it is a bribe, a payoff, or money laundering. Local politicians do this all the time.