August 5 2016
It may be a seller’s market for houses in Texas, but some of the bigger deals are being done with dirty money, federal officials say. The Treasury Department is now hoping to expose some of those buyers and sellers who’ve turned one metro area into a haven for money laundering.
Bexar County, home to San Antonio, last week joined a short list of places where federal agents are targeting buyers who hide money from criminal activity by using it to pay for expensive real estate. They typically pay with cash or check, and hide behind shell companies. Steve Hudak, a spokesman for the department’s financial crimes enforcement network, said officials believe San Antonio may be a “prime destination for illicit funds from drug trafficking in Mexico.”
