那些隐迹于纽约奢华公寓的全球富豪(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，位于时代华纳中心(Time Warner Center)74层编号为74B的共管公寓被以1565万美元（约合9800万元人民币）的价格售出，买主是一家名为25CC ST74B有限公司的秘密实体。该实体可以追溯到前俄罗斯参议员、银行家维塔利·马尔金(Vitaly Malkin)的家族。因为涉嫌与有组织犯罪有关联，马尔金曾被禁止进入加拿大。

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，另一家空壳公司出资2140万美元，从名为迪米特里奥斯·孔托米纳斯(Dimitrios Contominas)的希腊商人手里买下了同一楼层的另一套共管公寓。一年前，孔托米纳斯在希腊的一场反腐行动中被捕。

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.

往下几层，是另一家空壳公司“哥伦布天际线”(Columbus Skyline L.L.C.)拥有的三套共管公寓。该公司属于一个名为王文良的中国商人的家族。在新泽西州，这位承包商的建筑公司被发现让工人住在危险且不卫生的地方。

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.

时代华纳中心俯瞰着中央公园。在其装饰着暗色玻璃幕墙的大楼背后，大部分业主竭尽全力地不让自己的身份泄漏，将公寓登记在信托机构、有限责任公司或其他能隐藏他们姓名的实体名下。通过揭开200多家空壳公司的秘密，《纽约时报》记录了曼哈顿这栋标志性建筑十年里的所有权情况。全球资本改变着这座城市的房地产市场，而这里则是供这些资本驻足的一处驿站。

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

许多业主代表了美国富人阶层的一个横截面：高管和名流，医生和律师，科技行业企业家和华尔街上的操盘手。

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.

但时报也发现，有钱的外国人所占比例越来越高，其中至少16人是政府调查的对象，不是以个人的身份，就是以公司老板的身份。已有四名业主被捕，另有四人因违法活动而被处以罚款或其他惩戒措施。

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

外国业主包括来自俄罗斯、哥伦比亚、马来西亚、中国、哈萨克斯坦和墨西哥的政府官员及其亲信。

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.

他们得以豪掷数以百万计的美元购买房产却几乎未遭到质疑，是因为美国的法律促进了这些资金的流动。通过空壳公司，这些资金基本上无迹可寻。

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.

大量资金正前所未有地在全球不受约束地流动，其动机可能是腐败和避税，也可能是投资战略，而经济越来越不分国界，转移和隐藏资产的途径也在激增，使得这种流动成为可能。

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.

这股资本洪流来到伦敦、新加坡和其他金融中心，催生了外国超级富人的专属地带，随之而来的是怨恨之情和有关阶级不平等的争议。在重塑城市面貌的玻璃和钢铁大楼里，阶级不平等变得有形起来。

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.

在纽约，9·11袭击过后，这股资本洪流选择了时代华纳中心作为着陆地。即便十多年过去了，中央公园的南边也建起了一排摩天大楼，时代华纳中心一直是这种全球化现象在纽约的典型代表，反映了相互交织的趋势：流入高端房地产市场的外国资金日越来越多，使用空壳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.

根据PropertyShark网站的数据，纽约市售价超过500万美元的共管公寓每年的销售额为80亿美元左右，是10年前水平的三倍还多。去年售出的此类共管公寓中，超过一半被卖给了空壳公司。

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.”

时报的研究结果揭示了一个不透明的经济体获取海外财富的运作机制。由于缺乏相应的动机，也没有法律上的义务，参与高端房产销售的一系列人员——律师、会计、经纪商、代管代理、房地产中介、公管公寓董事会和建筑工人——通常对自己职责之外的情况一无所知。正如时代华纳中心前公管公寓管理者鲁迪·陶舍尔(Rudy Tauscher)所说：“大楼里的工作人员不知道钱是从哪来的，我们也不感兴趣。”

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.

空壳公司的所有权结构被掩盖得密不透风：为了揭开在时代华纳中心拥有共管公寓的空壳公司的所有权结构，时报花了超过一年的时间，搜索了20多个国家的商业和法庭记录，采访了数十位了解该楼盘的人士，研究了数以百计的公开地产记录，将出现在房契上的律师或亲属姓名与真正的买主对应了起来。

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.

然而有些时候，要想确定空壳公司背后的资金来源几乎是不可能的。购房者可以使用会计、律师或亲属的名字来注册一家空壳公司。购买公寓的通常不光是个人，还有投资者团体和大量的购房者家庭成员，这让购房资金的来源变得更加模糊。此外，空壳公司的所有权可以随时转移，不会显示在房产记录上。

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.

高端房地产市场已经变得越来越不透明，对于想要隐瞒财富的海外人士也更加具有吸引力，虽然与此同时，美国正在敦促其他国家帮助自己止住以避税为目的的资金外流。尽管执法官员非常担心空壳公司为非法所得提供了掩护，要求更大公开性的努力都未获成功。

“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.”

“他们就是想赚钱，”华盛顿的非营利机构全球金融诚信组织(Global Financial Integrity)的负责人雷蒙德·贝克(Raymond Baker)说。该机构会对非法资金的流动进行追踪。“就这么简单。他们喜欢别人把钱打进自己的账户里，因此就不会像平常一样严格。”

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，政府正在竭尽全力地吸引外国的富人。在纽约，从共管公寓开发项目的税收优惠中受益的，是那些想要在曼哈顿的高档建筑内寻找第二套或第三套住宅的人。2013年，在即将卸任之际，纽约市长迈克尔·R·布隆伯格(Michael R. Bloomberg)在自己每周的广播节目中说：“如果我们能让全世界的亿万富翁都搬到这座城市来，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.

在时报查明身份的时代华纳中心公寓的业主中，有至少17位曾登上《福布斯》(Forbes)杂志的年度富豪榜。五位世界顶尖的艺术收藏家，以及八位大型公司的首席高管拥有时代华纳中心的单位。这里还居住过大量名人，包括歌手吉米·巴菲特(Jimmy Buffett)和瑞奇·马丁(Ricky Martin)，新英格兰爱国者队的四分卫汤姆·布雷迪(Tome Brady)，以及脱口秀节目主持人凯莉·里帕(Kelly Ripa)。

A look behind some doors revealed more complicated tales.

有些公寓的主人还有着更为复杂的背景。

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，时报发现，这家公司的所有者是来自印度的矿业巨头安尼尔·阿加瓦尔(Anil Agarwal)。阿加瓦尔的公司污染了赞比亚一处铜矿附近的主要河流，导致周围的居民患病，因此遭到罚款。此外，印度本国的一个司法委员会认定，他的公司侵犯了一个土著部落的土地权利，只因为该部落妨碍了采矿活动。

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.

当方爱之(Anna Ai Fang)2004年以210万美元的价格购买了公寓58E时，她在房契上填写的转收地址绝对是相当低调，那是她在哥伦比亚大学(Columbia University)拉格尔斯厅(Ruggles Hall)的宿舍。当时，她的父亲方风雷已经结束了在多家中国国有银行的漫长职业生涯，很快将入职高盛(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，该集团由亚历山大·瓦尔沙夫斯基(Alexander Varshavsky)所掌控。此人在俄罗斯经营着多家汽车销售公司。

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.

当瓦尔沙夫斯基用现金全款购买了这套面积4300平方英尺的公寓时，参与这笔交易的人员几乎没有提出任何疑问。不过，他购买共管公寓的举动并非没有引起注意。

“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.”

“一些特工发现，被告瓦尔沙夫斯基与一名房地产中介进入了中央公园区域的几栋大楼里，包括纽约州纽约市哥伦布环岛(Columbus Circle)的25号楼，”纽瓦克联邦法院收到的一份刑事诉状上说。这份诉状记录了联邦特工在时代华纳中心的监视活动。“2011年6月，被告瓦尔沙夫斯基以大约2050万美元的价格，现金全款购买了那里的一套公寓。”

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.

瓦尔沙夫斯基现在是美国公民。2013年12月，他被指控隐瞒了自己的一个海外银行账户。瓦尔沙夫斯基的一名律师否认了这些指控，并表示预计这项控诉将会被撤销。

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

在案子等待判决期间，瓦尔沙夫斯基为获得保释抵押了他在时代华纳中心的公寓。

Ownership Becomes Opaque

神秘的所有权

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，哥伦布环岛还曾是几十名流浪者的临时住所，他们占据了纽约会议中心(New York Coliseum)的遗址，那里是罗伯特·摩斯(Robert Moses)时代举行会议的地方。

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袭击之后，这座会议中心的拆除和时代华纳中心的落成把该地区变成了一个繁忙的购物餐饮中心。时代华纳中心包括两栋高层公寓建筑，中庭是一些零售商店，楼内还有企业办公室以及文华东方酒店(Mandarin Oriental Hotel)。这些共管公寓引领了一系列俯瞰中央公园的豪华住宅楼的开发。

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.

通过把这些共管公寓推销给富有的国际买家，时代华纳的开发商站在了为纽约地产行业吸引海外资金的前沿。新公寓首次出售时，26%被卖给了海外买家，这个比例目前已经增长到了超过一半 。建筑外的深色玻璃幕墙为公寓的专属性和私密性提供了保障。