The laundering option doesn't make sense anymore cause it's so well known and you've opened yourself up to the irs.
It's instead a token to mask another transaction. A way to legitimise a transation for heinous things between rich people. "Oh sure I paid epstein $20m. It was for this art piece, isn't it great? If only I'd know about his misdeeds..." . The art or the money was never the point, the money wasn't initially dirty. The art is a cover they use to legitimise a transaction. Simply paying someone 20m for nothing rendered looks sus af, paying for some art though? All of a sudden it looks innocent.
They're not trying to clean their dirty money, they're trying to mask a transaction. The one who bought the art is the purchaser. Who can then gets a tax break by donating it to a museum sure (assuming they aren't looking to sell some evil services themselves), but that's just a discount on the purchase.
That is money laundering. You are taking money from an illegal transaction and laundering it (or you could say, "cleaning it for the books") with an art sale.
Modern art is money laundering.
There's a far worse theory.
The laundering option doesn't make sense anymore cause it's so well known and you've opened yourself up to the irs.
It's instead a token to mask another transaction. A way to legitimise a transation for heinous things between rich people. "Oh sure I paid epstein $20m. It was for this art piece, isn't it great? If only I'd know about his misdeeds..." . The art or the money was never the point, the money wasn't initially dirty. The art is a cover they use to legitimise a transaction. Simply paying someone 20m for nothing rendered looks sus af, paying for some art though? All of a sudden it looks innocent.
They're not trying to clean their dirty money, they're trying to mask a transaction. The one who bought the art is the purchaser. Who can then gets a tax break by donating it to a museum sure (assuming they aren't looking to sell some evil services themselves), but that's just a discount on the purchase.
That is money laundering. You are taking money from an illegal transaction and laundering it (or you could say, "cleaning it for the books") with an art sale.