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REPORT ON TAX FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING VULNERABILITIES INVOLVING THE REAL ESTATE SECTOR

Real estate has long been the preferred choice of criminals for hiding ill-gotten gains, and manipulating property prices is one of the oldest known ways to transfer proceeds illegally between parties to a deal. Tax fraud schemes are often closely linked with these activities. The OECD surveyed 18 countries in mid-2006 to look at how widespread these illegal practices are within the real estate sector and explore possible ways to combat them. The main findings confirm that this sector has been used as a conduit for fraud or illicit financial deals in most of the countries surveyed.