那些隱跡於紐約奢華公寓的全球富豪(1)

On the 74th floor of the Time Warner Center, Condominium 74B was purchased in 2010 for $15.65 million by a secretive entity called 25CC ST74B L.L.C. It traces to the family of Vitaly Malkin, a former Russian senator and banker who was barred from entering Canada because of suspected connections to organized crime.

2010年，位於時代華納中心(Time Warner Center)74層編號爲74B的共管公寓被以1565萬美元（約合9800萬元人民幣）的價格售出，買主是一家名爲25CC ST74B有限公司的祕密實體。該實體可以追溯到前俄羅斯參議員、銀行家維塔利·馬爾金(Vitaly Malkin)的家族。因爲涉嫌與有組織犯罪有關聯，馬爾金曾被禁止進入加拿大。

Last fall, another shell company bought a condo down the hall for $21.4 million from a Greek businessman named Dimitrios Contominas, who was arrested a year ago as part of a corruption sweep in Greece.

去年秋天，另一家空殼公司出資2140萬美元，從名爲迪米特里奧斯·孔托米納斯(Dimitrios Contominas)的希臘商人手裏買下了同一樓層的另一套共管公寓。一年前，孔托米納斯在希臘的一場反腐行動中被捕。

A few floors down are three condos owned by another shell company, Columbus Skyline L.L.C., which belongs to the family of a Chinese businessman and contractor named Wang Wenliang. His construction company was found housing workers in New Jersey in hazardous, unsanitary conditions.

往下幾層，是另一家空殼公司“哥倫布天際線”(Columbus Skyline L.L.C.)擁有的三套共管公寓。該公司屬於一個名爲王文良的中國商人的家族。在新澤西州，這位承包商的建築公司被發現讓工人住在危險且不衛生的地方。

Behind the dark glass towers of the Time Warner Center looming over Central Park, a majority of owners have taken steps to keep their identities hidden, registering condos in trusts, limited liability companies or other entities that shield their names. By piercing the secrecy of more than 200 shell companies, The New York Times documented a decade of ownership in this iconic Manhattan way station for global money transforming the city’s real estate market.

時代華納中心俯瞰着中央公園。在其裝飾着暗色玻璃幕牆的大樓背後，大部分業主竭盡全力地不讓自己的身份泄漏，將公寓登記在信託機構、有限責任公司或其他能隱藏他們姓名的實體名下。通過揭開200多家空殼公司的祕密，《紐約時報》記錄了曼哈頓這棟標誌性建築十年裏的所有權情況。全球資本改變着這座城市的房地產市場，而這裏則是供這些資本駐足的一處驛站。

Many of the owners represent a cross-section of American wealth: chief executives and celebrities, doctors and lawyers, technology entrepreneurs and Wall Street traders.

許多業主代表了美國富人階層的一個橫截面：高管和名流，醫生和律師，科技行業企業家和華爾街上的操盤手。

But The Times also found a growing proportion of wealthy foreigners, at least 16 of whom have been the subject of government inquiries around the world, either personally or as heads of companies. The cases range from housing and environmental violations to financial fraud. Four owners have been arrested, and another four have been the subject of fines or penalties for illegal activities.

但時報也發現，有錢的外國人所佔比例越來越高，其中至少16人是政府調查的對象，不是以個人的身份，就是以公司老闆的身份。已有四名業主被捕，另有四人因違法活動而被處以罰款或其他懲戒措施。

The foreign owners have included government officials and close associates of officials from Russia, Colombia, Malaysia, China, Kazakhstan and Mexico.

外國業主包括來自俄羅斯、哥倫比亞、馬來西亞、中國、哈薩克斯坦和墨西哥的政府官員及其親信。

They have been able to make these multimillion-dollar purchases with few questions asked because of United States laws that foster the movement of largely untraceable money through shell companies.

他們得以豪擲數以百萬計的美元購買房產卻幾乎未遭到質疑，是因爲美國的法律促進了這些資金的流動。通過空殼公司，這些資金基本上無跡可尋。

Vast sums are flowing unchecked around the world as never before — whether motivated by corruption, tax avoidance or investment strategy, and enabled by an ever-more-borderless economy and a proliferation of ways to move and hide assets.

大量資金正前所未有地在全球不受約束地流動，其動機可能是腐敗和避稅，也可能是投資戰略，而經濟越來越不分國界，轉移和隱藏資產的途徑也在激增，使得這種流動成爲可能。

Alighting in places like London, Singapore and other financial centers, this flood of capital has created colonies of the foreign super-rich, with the attendant resentments and controversies about class inequality made tangible in the glass and steel towers reordering urban landscapes.

這股資本洪流來到倫敦、新加坡和其他金融中心，催生了外國超級富人的專屬地帶，隨之而來的是怨恨之情和有關階級不平等的爭議。在重塑城市面貌的玻璃和鋼鐵大樓裏，階級不平等變得有形起來。

Where it made landfall in New York, in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, was the Time Warner Center. More than a decade on, even as a row of sky-piercing palaces rises on the southern rim of Central Park, the Time Warner Center remains the New York archetype of the global phenomenon, reflecting intertwined trends — the increasing sums of foreign money in high-end real estate and the growing use of shell companies.

在紐約，9·11襲擊過後，這股資本洪流選擇了時代華納中心作爲着陸地。即便十多年過去了，中央公園的南邊也建起了一排摩天大樓，時代華納中心一直是這種全球化現象在紐約的典型代表，反映了相互交織的趨勢：流入高端房地產市場的外國資金日越來越多，使用空殼公司的做法愈演愈烈。

About $8 billion is spent each year for New York City residences that cost more than $5 million each, more than triple the amount of a decade ago, according to the website PropertyShark. Just over half of those sales last year were to shell companies.

根據PropertyShark網站的數據，紐約市售價超過500萬美元的共管公寓每年的銷售額爲80億美元左右，是10年前水平的三倍還多。去年售出的此類共管公寓中，超過一半被賣給了空殼公司。

The Times examination reveals the workings of an opaque economy for this global wealth. Lacking incentive or legal obligation to identify the sources of money, an entire chain of people involved in high-end real estate sales — lawyers, accountants, title brokers, escrow agents, real estate agents, condo boards and building workers — often operate with blinders on. As Rudy Tauscher, a former manager of the condos at Time Warner, said: “The building doesn’t know where the money is coming from. We’re not interested.”

時報的研究結果揭示了一個不透明的經濟體獲取海外財富的運作機制。由於缺乏相應的動機，也沒有法律上的義務，參與高端房產銷售的一系列人員——律師、會計、經紀商、代管代理、房地產中介、公管公寓董事會和建築工人——通常對自己職責之外的情況一無所知。正如時代華納中心前公管公寓管理者魯迪·陶舍爾(Rudy Tauscher)所說：“大樓裏的工作人員不知道錢是從哪來的，我們也不感興趣。”

As an indication of how well-cloaked shell company ownership is, it took The Times more than a year to unravel the ownership of shell companies with condos in the Time Warner Center, by searching business and court records from more than 20 countries, interviewing dozens of people with close knowledge of the complex, examining hundreds of property records and connecting the dots from lawyers or relatives named on deeds to the actual buyers.

空殼公司的所有權結構被掩蓋得密不透風：爲了揭開在時代華納中心擁有共管公寓的空殼公司的所有權結構，時報花了超過一年的時間，搜索了20多個國家的商業和法庭記錄，採訪了數十位瞭解該樓盤的人士，研究了數以百計的公開地產記錄，將出現在房契上的律師或親屬姓名與真正的買主對應了起來。

Yet in some cases it is nearly impossible to establish with certainty the source of money behind shell companies. Purchasers can register shell companies in the names of accountants, lawyers or relatives. Purchases are often made not just by individuals but on behalf of groups of investors or numerous family members, further obscuring the origin of the funds. What is more, ownership of shell companies can be shifted at any time, with no indication in property records.

然而有些時候，要想確定空殼公司背後的資金來源幾乎是不可能的。購房者可以使用會計、律師或親屬的名字來註冊一家空殼公司。購買公寓的通常不光是個人，還有投資者團體和大量的購房者家庭成員，這讓購房資金的來源變得更加模糊。此外，空殼公司的所有權可以隨時轉移，不會顯示在房產記錄上。

The high-end real estate market has become less and less transparent — and more alluring for those abroad with assets they wish to keep anonymous — even as the United States pushes other nations to help stanch the flow of American money leaving the country to avoid taxes. Yet for all the concerns of law enforcement officials that shell companies can hide illicit gains, regulatory efforts to require more openness from these companies have failed.

高端房地產市場已經變得越來越不透明，對於想要隱瞞財富的海外人士也更加具有吸引力，雖然與此同時，美國正在敦促其他國家幫助自己止住以避稅爲目的的資金外流。儘管執法官員非常擔心空殼公司爲非法所得提供了掩護，要求更大公開性的努力都未獲成功。

“We like the money,” said Raymond Baker, the president of Global Financial Integrity, a Washington nonprofit that tracks the illicit flow of money. “It’s that simple. We like the money that comes into our accounts, and we are not nearly as judgmental about it as we should be.”

“他們就是想賺錢，”華盛頓的非營利機構全球金融誠信組織(Global Financial Integrity)的負責人雷蒙德·貝克(Raymond Baker)說。該機構會對非法資金的流動進行追蹤。“就這麼簡單。他們喜歡別人把錢打進自己的賬戶裏，因此就不會像平常一樣嚴格。”

In some ways, officials are clamoring for the foreign wealthy. In New York, tax breaks for condominium developments benefit owners looking for a second, or third, residence in one of Manhattan’s premier buildings. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on his weekly radio program in 2013, shortly before leaving office: “If we could get every billionaire around the world to move here, it would be a godsend.”

在一些方面，政府正在竭盡全力地吸引外國的富人。在紐約，從共管公寓開發項目的稅收優惠中受益的，是那些想要在曼哈頓的高檔建築內尋找第二套或第三套住宅的人。2013年，在即將卸任之際，紐約市長邁克爾·R·布隆伯格(Michael R. Bloomberg)在自己每週的廣播節目中說：“如果我們能讓全世界的億萬富翁都搬到這座城市來，那可真是天大的好事。”

Among the Time Warner Center owners identified by The Times are at least 17 billionaires on Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s richest people. Five of the world’s leading art collectors own units, as do eight people who have been chief executives of major companies. And it has been home to numerous celebrities, including the singers Jimmy Buffett and Ricky Martin, the New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the talk show host Kelly Ripa.

在時報查明身份的時代華納中心公寓的業主中，有至少17位曾登上《福布斯》(Forbes)雜誌的年度富豪榜。五位世界頂尖的藝術收藏家，以及八位大型公司的首席高管擁有時代華納中心的單位。這裏還居住過大量名人，包括歌手吉米·巴菲特(Jimmy Buffett)和瑞奇·馬丁(Ricky Martin)，新英格蘭愛國者隊的四分衛湯姆·布雷迪(Tome Brady)，以及脫口秀節目主持人凱莉·裏帕(Kelly Ripa)。

A look behind some doors revealed more complicated tales.

有些公寓的主人還有着更爲複雜的背景。

Units 72B and 51E are owned by the Amantea Corporation, which The Times traced to a mining magnate named Anil Agarwal. His company was fined for polluting a major river near a copper mine in Zambia, which sickened nearby residents. And judicial committees in his native India determined that his company had violated the land rights of an indigenous tribe near a proposed mine.

公寓72B和51E的所有者是Amantea Corporation，時報發現，這家公司的所有者是來自印度的礦業巨頭安尼爾·阿加瓦爾(Anil Agarwal)。阿加瓦爾的公司污染了贊比亞一處銅礦附近的主要河流，導致周圍的居民患病，因此遭到罰款。此外，印度本國的一個司法委員會認定，他的公司侵犯了一個土著部落的土地權利，只因爲該部落妨礙了採礦活動。

When Anna Ai Fang purchased Condominium 58E in 2004 for $2.1 million, the forwarding address on the deed was a decidedly more modest location: her dorm, Ruggles Hall, at Columbia University. At the time, her father, Fang Fenglei, had ended a long career running state-affiliated banks in China and would soon begin working for Goldman Sachs.

當方愛之(Anna Ai Fang)2004年以210萬美元的價格購買了公寓58E時，她在房契上填寫的轉收地址絕對是相當低調，那是她在哥倫比亞大學(Columbia University)拉格爾斯廳(Ruggles Hall)的宿舍。當時，她的父親方風雷已經結束了在多家中國國有銀行的漫長職業生涯，很快將入職高盛(Goldman Sachs)。

Unit 62CE belongs to Prime International Management Group, which in turn is controlled by Alexander Varshavsky, who runs auto dealerships in Russia.

公寓62CE的所有方是Prime International Management Group，該集團由亞歷山大·瓦爾沙夫斯基(Alexander Varshavsky)所掌控。此人在俄羅斯經營着多家汽車銷售公司。

Few, if any, questions were raised by those involved in the deal when Mr. Varshavsky paid cash for the 4,300-square-foot apartment. But his condo shopping did not go unnoticed.

當瓦爾沙夫斯基用現金全款購買了這套面積4300平方英尺的公寓時，參與這筆交易的人員幾乎沒有提出任何疑問。不過，他購買共管公寓的舉動並非沒有引起注意。

“Agents observed defendant Varshavsky enter several buildings in the Central Park area with a real estate agent, including 25 Columbus Circle, New York, New York,” according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court in Newark, recounting surveillance by federal agents at the Time Warner Center. “In June 2011 defendant Varshavsky purchased an apartment located at that address for approximately $20.5 million in cash.”

“一些特工發現，被告瓦爾沙夫斯基與一名房地產中介進入了中央公園區域的幾棟大樓裏，包括紐約州紐約市哥倫布環島(Columbus Circle)的25號樓，”紐瓦克聯邦法院收到的一份刑事訴狀上說。這份訴狀記錄了聯邦特工在時代華納中心的監視活動。“2011年6月，被告瓦爾沙夫斯基以大約2050萬美元的價格，現金全款購買了那裏的一套公寓。”

In December 2013, Mr. Varshavsky, who is now a United States citizen, was charged with failing to report the existence of a foreign bank account. A lawyer for Mr. Varshavsky disputed the allegations and said he expected the complaint to be dropped.

瓦爾沙夫斯基現在是美國公民。2013年12月，他被指控隱瞞了自己的一個海外銀行賬戶。瓦爾沙夫斯基的一名律師否認了這些指控，並表示預計這項控訴將會被撤銷。

Meanwhile the case is pending, and Mr. Varshavsky posted bail — his Time Warner condo.

在案子等待判決期間，瓦爾沙夫斯基爲獲得保釋抵押了他在時代華納中心的公寓。

Ownership Becomes Opaque

神祕的所有權

It was not all that long ago that Columbus Circle was the makeshift residence of dozens of homeless people squatting at the site of the abandoned New York Coliseum, the Robert Moses-era convention center.

就在不久之前，哥倫布環島還曾是幾十名流浪者的臨時住所，他們佔據了紐約會議中心(New York Coliseum)的遺址，那裏是羅伯特·摩斯(Robert Moses)時代舉行會議的地方。

The demolition of the coliseum and the creation of the Time Warner Center — two residential towers with a retail atrium, corporate offices and the Mandarin Oriental Hotel — transformed the area into a vibrant shopping and dining destination in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks. The condos also sparked development of a billionaires row of residential towers overlooking Central Park.

在9·11襲擊之後，這座會議中心的拆除和時代華納中心的落成把該地區變成了一個繁忙的購物餐飲中心。時代華納中心包括兩棟高層公寓建築，中庭是一些零售商店，樓內還有企業辦公室以及文華東方酒店(Mandarin Oriental Hotel)。這些共管公寓引領了一系列俯瞰中央公園的豪華住宅樓的開發。

By marketing the condos to wealthy foreigners, Time Warner’s developer was at the forefront of luring cash from overseas to New York real estate. Twenty-six percent of the original sales were to people from other countries, a proportion that has grown to more than half among recent buyers. The complex’s dark glass exterior offers a sheen of both exclusivity and secrecy.

通過把這些共管公寓推銷給富有的國際買家，時代華納的開發商站在了爲紐約地產行業吸引海外資金的前沿。新公寓首次出售時，26%被賣給了海外買家，這個比例目前已經增長到了超過一半 。建築外的深色玻璃幕牆爲公寓的專屬性和私密性提供了保障。