Displaying items by tag: real estate

Thousands of demonstrators in Belgrade have formed a human shield around the bomb-damaged former Yugoslav defence ministry building, vowing to stop its redevelopment into a luxury complex tied to a company owned by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law. The $500 million project, backed by president Aleksandar Vučić’s pro-Trump government, aims to transform the ruins - once bombed by NATO in 1999 - into a hotel and office district. Critics, however, see the move as an affront to national memory, calling the complex a sacred symbol of resistance against foreign aggression. Lawmakers recently fast-tracked legislation to permit construction despite an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged document forgery used to strip the site’s heritage status. The protests, led largely by students and youth movements, echo wider anger over corruption and government control. As chants of defiance echoed through the capital, protesters pledged unity to defend Serbia’s architectural and historical integrity against what they view as political and economic exploitation.

New in-depth analysis found unacceptable levels of money laundering risks in French real estate, despite transparency measures. Non-compliance, incomplete data, and loopholes are creating a brick wall for attempts to follow flows of dirty money into real estate. Six years after France began collecting information on the beneficial owners of companies, almost a third of legal entities have failed to comply. Consequently over 7.33 million parcels of land, which could contain one or multiple properties, are anonymously held. There is a dead end for efforts to follow the money of white-collar criminals, kleptocrats and sanctioned elites into French real estate, which is known to be a favoured destination for corrupt cash. Over 1.5 million registered entities have not yet declared who ultimately owns and benefits from them.