There are documentaries and books outlining how drugs fueled Miami’s real estate market 40 years ago, but a new report shines a light on how illicit funds continue to make their way through commercial properties in South Florida and beyond.
Miami-based real estate investment firm Sefira Capital agreed to forfeit more than $29M in assets in 2021 as part of a settlement with the federal government over a Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into money laundering.
Sefira, which admitted no wrongdoing in the deal, was accused of not only ignoring red flags about the sources of its investors’ capital but was also caught up in a DEA sting operation that revealed the investment fund received millions of dollars in drug money.
Among the investments tied up in the investigation were a $63M hotel acquisition near Washington, D.C., and an office building in Fort Lauderdale where prosecutors with Broward County’s Drug Trafficking and Economic Crimes units lease space, the Miami Herald reported.
