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What A tANGLED wEB wE wEAVE

There was this thing called the Global Laundromat, used to move illegal billions out of Russia to places that are more fun to live in. Here's how it worked.
A large number of shell companies were created, mostly in London. Typically, company A “loaned” a large sum of money to company B. Other businesses in Russia – fronted by Moldovans – would then guarantee these “loans”. Company B would fail to return the “money”. Corrupt Moldovan judges would authenticate the “debt”, allowing the Russian companies to transfer real money to a bank in Moldova. From here, the cash went to a bank in Latvia, inside the EU. Once inside the EU, a bank with global reach, namely Deutsche Bank, could move the cash around the world.
The total amount laundered was $20 billion.Some US banks were involved, notably Citi and Bank of America. Only Mellon rejected participation out of money laundering fears. Deutsche Bank was fined over $600 million and several high ranking executives are likely to go to prison. See, in the EU, a financial crime can result in prison time, in contrast to the US.
But there's more. Between 2003 and 2007, Deutsche was involved in a scheme to fix interest rates, and was fined $2.5 billion.
But there's more. During the same time period, Deutsche was involved in violating international economic sanctions against Iran, Syria, Libya and Sudan, and using accounting tricks to hide their participation. This involved over $10 billion and resulted in a $258 million fine.
But there's more. Leading up to the 2008 financial crisis, Deutsche was one of the banks guilty of creating and selling toxic subprime mortgage backed securities. They were fined $7.2 billion.
But there's more. In the wake of the financial crisis, in 2009, Deutsche hired a detective agency to spy on its enemies, including a shareholder, a journalist, and a member of the public.
This has all resulted in Deutsche being in such financial trouble that it is now forced to lay off 18,000 employees and close its entire investment banking subsidiary. The Deutsche CEO "regrets" this action. No word yet on whether he regrets the ongoing criminal activity conducted by his bank.
But this makes you think about Donald Trump. His businesses filed for bankruptcy six times between 1991 and 2009, due to his financial genius. He was unable to meet loan payments or renegotiate his debt. This was due to over leveraged hotel and casino businesses in New York and Atlantic City. His has to be the only company to lose money in the gambling business. The businesses that failed were Trump Taj Mahal (1991), Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino (1992), Plaza Hotel (1992), Trump Castle Hotel and Casino (1992), Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts (2004), and Trump Entertainment Resorts (2009).
After the final bankruptcy, the only bank that would do business with him was Deutsche Bank, already deeply involved in its criminal money laundering. The classic way place to park laundered money is in real estate, as it is fairly liquid and unlikely to lose much value. Might even gain value.
As Don, Jr. said in 2008, "In terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets." And according to the stupid son, Eric Trump, “We don’t rely on American banks. We have all the funding we need out of Russia.” And since no one else would do business with him, the most likely conduit through which that cash flowed was Deutsche Bank. Trump was on the Titanic and going down fast. Suddenly he wasn't.
I dunno. It feels like a conspiracy theory. There are likely many reasons why Trump doesn't want his financial records seen by anyone. For instance, he is likely worth way less than he claims. He says TEN BILLION DOLLARS. But journalist Timothy O’Brien, who saw Trump’s tax returns but is legally prevented from talking about them in detail, has implied that Trump’s income is much lower than he often suggests. O’Brien was sued by Trump for libel after he claimed in a 2005 book that Trump’s real net worth was as low as $150 million-$250 million. The suit was dismissed. Being fabulously wealthy is part of Trump's brand.
But being so closely associated with (a) Russians and (b) Deutsche Bank, it is hard to shake the suspicion that he is up to his eyeballs in laundered money from Russian criminals.

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