Trumps Panama hotel debacle goes from bad to worse
Trump’s Panama hotel debacle goes from bad to worse
Lawmakers demand answers about money laundering allegations at Trump's Panama hotel.
Casey Michel
Mar 2, 2018, 3:13 pm
Things seem to be going from bad to worse for President Donald Trump’s property in Panama.
In a letter obtained by ThinkProgress, Reps. Norma Torres (D-CA) and Eliot Engel (D-CA) questioned Alan Garten, general counsel at the Trump Organization, regarding what Trump and his associates knew about alleged money and drug trafficking at the property — and when they knew it.
The letter points to a series of previous investigations, including a substantial report from Global Witness, into the building, which was formerly known as Trump Ocean Club. The reports highlighted how many egregious red flags Trump and his team ignored, all of which pointed to Trump’s Panamanian property being used to funnel “proceeds from Colombian cartels’ narcotics trafficking” — a reality that, as Global Witness points out, transformed Trump into “one of the beneficiaries” of the massive money laundering.
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The signs of money laundering surrounding Trump’s Panama hotel, which Trump previously described as Ivanka Trump’s “baby,” have only grown more glaring with each consecutive report. Between the anonymous shell companies — a number of which included the word “Trump” in their names — snapping up units to the fact that numerous units were purchased both in bulk and in cash, or even with notorious “bearer shares,” all indications pointed toward the Trump property being used as a store for money laundering operations.
These signs are obvious enough on their own; however, Torres and Engel also point out that Alexandre Ventura Nogueira, who acted as the Trump property’s initial primary broker, later admitted to outright offering money laundering protection as one of his services.
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https://thinkprogress.org/jump-back-whats-that-sound-6c72cdbc03e3/
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As I understand this, the Trump family doesn't own the hotel in Panama, this outfit pays them an annual licensing fee to call themselves a "Trump" hotel. The same would be true of every other "Trump" hotel outside the US - Trump doesn't own them.
Trump collects his fee based on a percentage of sales (I would imagine) but he has no input into the management of the hotels. I'm sure he doesn't set their policies or train their executives either. The licensees decide when to cancel their contract or not renew, they would make the last payment and cancel the deal, whenever they want.
What authority does Trump have to tell these guys how to run their business, or whether they should operate within the law? Trump has no leverage in this, other than to cancel the contract. I'm sure he'd sue them to take his name off the building if it suits him to do that. My point is, how would he even know if the hotel owners were acting illegally? Why would he care as long as he got paid?
Unrelated to this issue but still relevant, does anyone know if Ivanka has a NY realtor's license? How does a NY realtor license permit someone to do business in Panama or any other country? It's only good for doing business in New York, am I right?
Sorry for all these questions! I hope someone can help me out.
