- Thread starter Yayow
- Start date
I guess it's progress....but
I am soooo glad someone else noticed, It escapes why people would invest money into building something Punta Cana in particular has plenty of that are vacant?!?!?!?! Every time ago there i notice a new mall being built right next to an empty completed one.
Ah Nals, such a great mind!
Wow, is that YOUR blog? What a great analysis.
I certainly admire and appreciate the author's and your efforts to portray this economy as completely honest and above board but would really question these stats...and no, of course, we can't back it up with anything except our feeble eyes and our gut instincts. Mine say that only a very small portion of the powdered white stuff that passes through here gets caught. I would bet that the bulk of it is shipped out ... into the ports of the US which are not under drug surveillance like the airports are... and not in the stomachs and suitcases of individual travelers.
And some would argue that the value on the coke in that report is valued very low
http://books.google.com/books?id=wa...w#v=onepage&q=value of cocaine per kg&f=false at about half...
There was a great book written about 15 years ago called Drug Wars which estimated that the Drug Cartels had an annual budget equal to the US military.... just imagine that amount of money.. around 400 billion. And all of it has to be laundered to get back into the system. So even if the drugs do not transit here, the money can.
The other point is that drug money is only one kind of illegal money. There is also all the illegal money that gets skimmed off of the government. This government as well as other governments where people come here to avoid paying taxes.
Just one story by way of illustration... a friend in LT was at Banco Popular, ahead of him was a Russian with a Dominican opening an account with $24 million Euro. The Russian - who did not have his cedula yet and was therefore opening the account in the name of the Dominican- looked at the Dominican and said "and you are not going to touch a penny of that money, right?"
I believe that it is only the US that requires banks to track deposits and transfers over $10k-
We are just observing the number of apartments and buildings that are going up... and the number of apartments that are going up that cost 300k and UP.
We are not talking about the sensible little places that are being build on the east side of the river for 2 million pesos for families... But imagine 11, 12, 16 million pesos. And since mortgages here only carry a fixed rate for the first year, one assumes that most of these places are being bought with 100% cash.
That is just soooo much cash. Considering that 1k a month is considered a good wage, US4k a month is consider a LOT of money. So you figure out who these torres are being built for and where the money is coming from.
Wow, is that YOUR blog? What a great analysis.
I certainly admire and appreciate the author's and your efforts to portray this economy as completely honest and above board but would really question these stats...and no, of course, we can't back it up with anything except our feeble eyes and our gut instincts. Mine say that only a very small portion of the powdered white stuff that passes through here gets caught. I would bet that the bulk of it is shipped out ... into the ports of the US which are not under drug surveillance like the airports are... and not in the stomachs and suitcases of individual travelers.
And some would argue that the value on the coke in that report is valued very low
http://books.google.com/books?id=wa...w#v=onepage&q=value of cocaine per kg&f=false at about half...
There was a great book written about 15 years ago called Drug Wars which estimated that the Drug Cartels had an annual budget equal to the US military.... just imagine that amount of money.. around 400 billion. And all of it has to be laundered to get back into the system. So even if the drugs do not transit here, the money can.
The other point is that drug money is only one kind of illegal money. There is also all the illegal money that gets skimmed off of the government. This government as well as other governments where people come here to avoid paying taxes.
Just one story by way of illustration... a friend in LT was at Banco Popular, ahead of him was a Russian with a Dominican opening an account with $24 million Euro. The Russian - who did not have his cedula yet and was therefore opening the account in the name of the Dominican- looked at the Dominican and said "and you are not going to touch a penny of that money, right?"
I believe that it is only the US that requires banks to track deposits and transfers over $10k-
We are just observing the number of apartments and buildings that are going up... and the number of apartments that are going up that cost 300k and UP.
We are not talking about the sensible little places that are being build on the east side of the river for 2 million pesos for families... But imagine 11, 12, 16 million pesos. And since mortgages here only carry a fixed rate for the first year, one assumes that most of these places are being bought with 100% cash.
That is just soooo much cash. Considering that 1k a month is considered a good wage, US4k a month is consider a LOT of money. So you figure out who these torres are being built for and where the money is coming from.
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Most first world countries have the $10,000 rule. I agree that many of these hotels, restaurants, carwashes, apartment buildings, and oversized houses are most likely built with drug money and money liberated from the peoples bank.
When the OP was talking about the building blocking his view, that other torre came to mind......imagine the poor folks who have to look at THAT as a view all these years!
A gleaming new luxury apartment block is being built in the neighbouring lot. I'm sure it will put off a lot of buyers.
a couple of years ago, before the price of cement and re-bar went way up, a friend of mine, who is one of the biggest developers in the country, along with the rest of his family, father, brothers, explained to me that if he built an 8 unit building and sold only 3, then he was at his break even point. so at 300K per unit that will net a profit of 1.5million dollars and he could easily build this in less than a year. most buildings are nothing more than concrete and rebar, a little "caoba" here and there, plastic plumbing (cheap), no heating systems, no central air, no insulation, maybe the most expensive item is an elevator. then you have haitian labor. no property or school taxes to worry about, no insurance premiums due, nothing to force you to sell in a hurry. this is a very lucrative business with little risk..........
so if i had a million bucks sitting around, rather than build a house, i'd put up an apt building, keep the penthouse for myself, kick back and relax. i've got my place to live and my money is as safe as if it were in a bank, with a much better return.........
so if i had a million bucks sitting around, rather than build a house, i'd put up an apt building, keep the penthouse for myself, kick back and relax. i've got my place to live and my money is as safe as if it were in a bank, with a much better return.........
Bingo!
But, this is DR1 so it will probably fall on deaf ears (or should that be blind eyes?).
:cheeky:
No.mountainannie said:
Of course you can't back it up, that's how many "theories" on DR1 are created, with not much to back it up with. However, the article in the blog clearly shows the sources of the data, including the United Nations International Cocaine Market report, which I think is much more credible than what you think on a whim.mountainannie said:
You should stop conjecturing nonsense out of thin air and instead befriend and talk with actual developers. Study the actual market. Stop coming up with crackpot (pun not intended, if there is any :cheeky: ) ideas based on crackpot ideas, excuse the redundancy.mountainannie said:
:speechles
Nals I remember a post of yours where you wanted to pay your Haitian maid 1000 for 2 weeks work and then after that a week at an all inclusive hotel. This was back when you told people that you lived in Los Cacigazcos, had a Lexus Suv and administrated 2 different franchises.
Now you are telling people that LIVE and work here that laundered money is not a factor in the development boom in Santo Domingo? I think that you should stay with www.Connecticut1.com
Nals I remember a post of yours where you wanted to pay your Haitian maid 1000 for 2 weeks work and then after that a week at an all inclusive hotel. This was back when you told people that you lived in Los Cacigazcos, had a Lexus Suv and administrated 2 different franchises.
Now you are telling people that LIVE and work here that laundered money is not a factor in the development boom in Santo Domingo? I think that you should stay with www.Connecticut1.com
I never said money laundering doesn't exist!
BTW, don't people get their information by befriending and talking to experts in a particular field (in this case the real estate/construction market) and consulting with reputable printed sources/studies/etc?
If so, does someone needs to be at a particular place 24/7 to do such things? I don't think so.
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Two useful sources showing that this is nothing new: Money Transmitters, Remittances, Exchange Rates, and Mechanisms for Money Laundering in the Dominican Republic by Richard Boly
SpringerLink - Journal Article
and
Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cyber Crime & Money Laundering (Law Enforcement Handbook) by James R Richards - you can read the whole book here:
Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cyber Crime & Money Laundering (Law Enforcement Handbook)
SpringerLink - Journal Article
and
Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cyber Crime & Money Laundering (Law Enforcement Handbook) by James R Richards - you can read the whole book here:
Transnational Criminal Organizations, Cyber Crime & Money Laundering (Law Enforcement Handbook)
Exactly...If I had a million USD just sitting around. Who working in a legitimate business does? We all know what's the main cash based business in The DR nowadays. Remember the great majority of them are built with cash, because very few people are going to get loans from the banks at high interest rates to build something that's just going to sit there empty for who knows how long.
i know more people with few million dollars than i can count. here, in POP. not to mention SD. all gained legitimately.
i also know a developer in SD who puts up apartment buildings but those are not luxurious huge torres on the malecon.
having said that i am sure there is lots of money being laundered here - it is one thing to invest one million dollars in the apartment building and sell all units within few months and it is another thing to build 20 floor torre that stands empty for years...
...With millions of dollars just sitting around un-invested from legitimate businesses? Come on...nobody believes that. Almost anyone who's made money legitimately is moving that money around, constantly investing, and making it produce more money and is not going to just plunk it into a building that's going to sit empty for months, years...
I took that photo 4 years ago and that's why I asked. It most likely looks very different now.