Anti-money laundering through real estate
The Ministry of Construction has just announced a draft Circular on anti-money laundering for real estate business activities.
The draft lists quite a few suspicious behaviors for real estate trading activities, with the purpose of money laundering, such as: The customer cannot be identified based on the information provided by the customer or a transaction involving an unidentified party; The transaction is conducted by a customer involved in illegal activities posted on mass media that the reporting organization knows about or is on the warning list provided by competent state agencies. Transaction records or real estate records show signs of forgery (for example: fake seals, fake signatures, fake ID cards, fake passports, real estate addresses that are not true to reality...).
In addition, real estate transactions are authorized transactions but have no legal basis, the addresses of the parties involved in the transaction are incorrect; Information about the same customer is declared differently in different transactions; Customers show no interest in real estate prices and transaction fees. Customers transact without authorization but cannot provide information related to real estate, do not want to provide additional personal information. The agreed price between the parties to the transaction is not consistent with the market price... is also considered a sign of money laundering.
When organizations and individuals detect transactions with the above signs, they must report in writing to the Anti-Money Laundering Department under the Banking Inspection and Supervision Agency - State Bank of Vietnam; Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management - Ministry of Construction within 48 hours from the time of detecting suspicious signs in real estate transactions. In case of detecting transactions related to criminal activities, they must report to the competent state agency within 24 hours from the time of detection.
(According to Tien Phong)
