The Plaza Hotel in New York City.Nicolas Economou / NurPhoto via Getty Images file

That’s because there is very little the government can do to find out who owns what real estate in the U.S., which has become a “destination of choice” for money launderers throughout the world, said Louise Shelley, the director of the transnational crime and corruption center at George Mason University, who has been an expert witness about how Russian money is laundered through real estate.

Source: ‘It’s a complete black box’: Russian oligarchs pour money into U.S. real estate market