A Trump hotel project seems to have involved a front for Iran's Revolutionary Guard

[Bill USA]

It wouldn’t be the first time Trump got into money-laundering trouble
http://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/3/6/14827604/trump-tower-baku

A lengthy new investigative story published by Adam Davidson in the New Yorker reveals that Donald Trump’s business dealings in Azerbaijan likely violated the Foreign and Corrupt Practices Act, and may have served as a conduit for money-laundering and other underhanded activities undertaken by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

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The kind of exacting scrutiny that his finances would necessarily undergo in the event of a thorough investigation of Trump’s possible links to the Russian government would bring an enormous amount to light about a huge range of deals. That, in turn, might uncover illegal or scandalous activity that, like this story about Trump in Azerbaijan, has no apparent relationship at all with Vladimir Putin or Russian intelligence.

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The story raises two related legal issues.

One is whether Trump’s business ties to an extraordinarily corrupt Azerbaijani family involved violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, a law that Trump has been sharply critical of in public but which remains on the books and which Attorney General Jeff Sessions swore during his confirmation hearings he was committed to upholding.

The other is whether the Mammadov-Azarpassillo nexus violates US sanctions against Iran. The legal rules barring US firms from receiving funds that originated with a sanctioned Iranian entity, which certainly includes the Revolutionary Guard, are quite strict. You can’t simply say you didn’t know that the developer who was paying you for your licensing services was actually getting his money from a Revolutionary Guard front group. You need to do strict due diligence.

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[underpants]

1. Money laundering - as many people here have commented that's looks like the root of all this

Real estate is a great way to clean large amounts of money specifically getting Russian money held up by the sanctions.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Getting to be pretty commonly known, happily.

The other part of the puzzle is how Trump, who actually has been broke a few times, to the point of declaring bankruptcy FOUR times, was able to still wheel and deal .
At least once, Ross bailed him out.

but a good way to grab some money is to sell your real estate to someone who would pay even more than the asking price, in cash.
which several Russian buyers have done.

Sadly, hiding money offshore, and /or money laundering, is partly what is driving up real estate prices in cities like SF, NYC, Seattle, Vancouver, Toronto and smaller cities across our country.

Seems to me it would pretty easy to blackmail a known money launderer into running for Pres. and very helpful if he won.
which would explain why all those Russian people keep appearing in trump's campaign and business life.
and only Russian people.
With the exception of a a Philippine mobster's son in Toronto.

really recommend Wayne Barrett's book about Trump.
which covers how Trump's daddy ran the game and introduced Donnie boy into that life.

[underpants]

3. I'll look it up

Thanks.