You have to wonder if the laundering of money obtained from illegal activities is playing a part in Darwin’s real estate boom . We are aware of occasions , in recent years, in which individuals have arrived in Darwin from overseas and then , with cases “filled with money”, gone about buying real estate. Whether that money was legit or not is unknown.
If you talk to people in the Darwin building industry today they will tell you of certain individuals who seem to have large amounts of money to invest, the source of which is unclear.
Going on police seizures in the Territory’s main centres and far flung Aboriginal communities, there is ample evidence that there is a large amount of drug money floating about. With real estate prices here higher than Sydney and extravagant claims about “ the boom” likely to be caused by oil and gas projects, parking hot money in real estate would seem to be attractive.
Darwin has a long history of illegal betting shops, knock shops and sly grog dens , some of the proceeds from which were used to buy up land and invest in properties. In the car boot of one well known business man a large bag of moolah , which Santa would have had trouble lifting , regularly bounced about .
Globally , vast amounts of hot money circulates . In the 1990s , the Christmas Island casino was one of the world’s most profitable with Asian gamblers pushing “ billions of dollars ”through its tables. A television documentary left no doubt that vast amounts of hot money was laundered through the casino .
Its Indonesian owners went bankrupt in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. The Federal government in 2004 refused to allow the casino to reopen despite a plan by KFL Star Resort, a South Korean consortium based in Perth , to spend $30million refurbishing the decaying casino and tourist hotel. The direct airline link between Bali and the island ceased.
At the time, NT Labor MP Warren Snowdon, whose electorate took in Christmas Island , was reported as saying the government’s decision was “ an act of bastardry” that had damaged the island’s economy. He indicated a Labor government would allow a casino to operate on the island. With so many refugee packed into Christmas Island today , there is hardly enough room to set up a two-up ring.
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If you talk to people in the Darwin building industry today they will tell you of certain individuals who seem to have large amounts of money to invest, the source of which is unclear.
Going on police seizures in the Territory’s main centres and far flung Aboriginal communities, there is ample evidence that there is a large amount of drug money floating about. With real estate prices here higher than Sydney and extravagant claims about “ the boom” likely to be caused by oil and gas projects, parking hot money in real estate would seem to be attractive.
Darwin has a long history of illegal betting shops, knock shops and sly grog dens , some of the proceeds from which were used to buy up land and invest in properties. In the car boot of one well known business man a large bag of moolah , which Santa would have had trouble lifting , regularly bounced about .
Globally , vast amounts of hot money circulates . In the 1990s , the Christmas Island casino was one of the world’s most profitable with Asian gamblers pushing “ billions of dollars ”through its tables. A television documentary left no doubt that vast amounts of hot money was laundered through the casino .
Its Indonesian owners went bankrupt in 1998 during the Asian financial crisis. The Federal government in 2004 refused to allow the casino to reopen despite a plan by KFL Star Resort, a South Korean consortium based in Perth , to spend $30million refurbishing the decaying casino and tourist hotel. The direct airline link between Bali and the island ceased.
At the time, NT Labor MP Warren Snowdon, whose electorate took in Christmas Island , was reported as saying the government’s decision was “ an act of bastardry” that had damaged the island’s economy. He indicated a Labor government would allow a casino to operate on the island. With so many refugee packed into Christmas Island today , there is hardly enough room to set up a two-up ring.
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