Condominiums at the Time Warner Center were found to have a number of hidden owners over a decade who had been the subjects of government investigations. Credit Edward Caruso for The New York Times.  2016

Ocean Grove by Paul Goldfinger.  Imagine the Grove after OGNED gets done with the North End. Why won’t they reveal who they are??

By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger   Jan. 2016.     Re-post 12/22

In a front page article in the NY Times*, it is reported that the Justice Department is looking into secret investors who are behind high end real estate deals. They are especially interested in professionals such as real estate agents, bankers, and lawyers who are involved in developing such entities.

Oftentimes shell companies are formed such as LLC’s**  (limited liability corporations)  that shield the identities of investors. Frequently foreign buyers are involved using cash payments as they seek real estate deals to hide or launder their money.

Currently the investigators are focusing on New York City and Miami.

There is an LLC that is involved in the North End Redevelopment Plan. It is called WAVE, and we posted an article about it in April, 2015.

Since 2007. the identities of the WAVE investors have been hidden, even though they have been doing business with Neptune Township, the governing entity that is in charge of the North End Area in Need of Redevelopment.

You would think that any group doing business with the Township would be required to disclose the identities of its investors, and if it refuses, the Township should open bidding for others to be redevelopers of the NERP.  But the Township continues to be involved with WAVE.

This is not to say that there is any evidence that WAVE’s principles are doing anything illegal,  but any entity doing business with the Township should be totally above board  and transparent, or it should be excused from participating in this project. This is about appearances, and the Township ought to make sure that its business associates are squeaky clean.  As far as we can tell, the Committee does not know whom it is dealing with.

**”Simply put, an LLC is the least complex business structure. Unlike an S corp or C corp, an LLC’s structure is flexible. It also gives you the perk of pass-through taxes, limited liability (obviously), and legal protection for your personal assets; plus the added benefit of looking more legit than the other guys.” ( Internet definition.)

NY Times link:*

www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/us/us-will-track-secret-buyers-of-luxury-real-estate.html?_r=0

CAROL HANEY   from the Pajama Game.

Editor’s note:  It is now nearly 7 years since we expressed concern about the identities of those who are part of WAVE, the “re-developers” at the OG North End.

The identities of every member of that secretive group should have been demanded by Neptune Township because such a re-development zone comes under the direction of the Township Committee according to Land Use Law in NJ.   But amazingly, the curtain was never pulled back.   What were they hiding?

We should have been informed of every name in order to know about conflicts of interest in the Grove and Neptune governance.

Recently  the issue was once again raised here on Blogfinger, but this time the secretive group has been renamed OGNED—Ocean Grove North End Developers.

Before this project is allowed to place even one shovelful of  Grovarian dirt onto a dump truck, an HOA lawyer,  or the Attorney General,  should make sure that all secrets are revealed to the public before the character of this town is allowed to be transformed by big-money interests.

Paul Goldfinger, MD ,  Editor Blogfinger. net