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.

At a minimum, from cases reported in the last five years, more than $2.3 billion has been laundered through U.S. real estate, including millions more through other alternative assets, like art, jewelry and yachts, according to a report in August by Global Financial Integrity, a nonprofit group that researches illicit money flows.

In 2020, Congress passed legislation to empower the Treasury Department to stop tax evaders, kleptocrats, terrorists and other criminals from using anonymous shell companies to hide and launder assets, including those in real estate. It requires companies to self-report to the Treasury Department certain basic information, including the assets’ true owners. The information will be in a database for law enforcement, national security officials and financial institutions.