I always wondered about the investor appeal of all those empty towers going up in Kakaako and elsewhere along the planned route of the rail line.

Then I read about a new order just issued by the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement unit targeting the use of limited liability corporations (LLCs) in Honolulu and other high-priced real estate cities as shell companies for criminal enterprises to hide the source of their money.

As it turns out, almost half of all recent real estate sales on the island are all-cash deals, with many of them involving an anonymous LLC buyer. Now title companies will be required to record the names of the persons hiding behind the shell.

Didn’t real estate developers, government and Realtors ever question the source of all this money, or did they only care about their piece of the action?

But there’s a silver lining. A RICO lawsuit will inevitably be filed and all those over-priced condos will end up on the auction block where they can truly become “affordable.”

Edward D. Lasky

Hawaii Kai

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