Left to rot: Collapsed condo born of botched construction and evidence of money laundering
When Champlain Towers South ascended from the beachfront 40 years ago in the quaint Miami suburb of Surfside, the new condominium gleamed with promise.
It was the first swanky high-rise condo in the tiny town, and it solidified the neighborhood as a gathering place for the rich and famous like Frank Sinatra, who hung out down the road from where the high-rise stood. For its residents – from millionaire cocaine smugglers to family vacationers – it was all about landing their little slice of paradise.
But even before developers sold off the 136 condominiums to their first owners, the construction had been botched and the building had been set on a course to rot from the foundation up, a USA TODAY investigation shows.
USA TODAY set out to compile a complete accounting of the forces at work on the building that collapsed on June 24, killing 98 people. Reporters pored over thousands of pages of documents, including deeds, inspection records and homeowner association minutes. They interviewed dozens of people, including money laundering and engineering experts and residents who called the building home from its birth in 1981 to its deadly end in 2021.
The reporting reveals for the first time that early condo sales exhibit tell-tale signs of a money laundering scheme. Experts say cutting corners on construction often accompanied money laundering. At Champlain South, engineers have noted an incorrectly designed pool deck and improperly constructed support columns. Money laundering also might have meant that some early buyers weren’t living in the condo building or concerned with its long-term maintenance.
https://www.heraldtribune.com/in-depth/news/investigations/2021/10/14/money-laundering-evident-collapsed-surfside-condo-building/5798385001/
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Too bad. This story is worth following.