Real Estate Cash Out Help

[Aussie29]

The facts --

Our flat is under contract, the buyer will be paying cash in US$ 100 bills low/mid 6 figures.

My Objective -

Get the money back into the USA with myself and as much as the dough as possible in tact. I am willing to take a 2 maybe 3 percent hit if I can avoid risking life or limb, but I need immediate access (few days) to the funds and WILL NOT allow them to enter the Argentine banking system.

Plan A -

Do the deal at a place like Casa Piano , get my cash go donwstairs and transfer the money to my account in the USA.

Questions -

Is this method even still possible , I have heard the gov't is starting to crackdown on these operations.

How much will this cost and how long does it take for the money to show up.

While I know these types of casas have been around for decades it still makes me nervous to hand six figures over a counter and get some scribbled receipt back and then go my hotel wait for it to appear in my bank account. BTW I am not trying to hid anything from the US Gov't I full intend to declare whatever I make.

Plan B -

I find myself sitting in some bank or cambio with a two foot stack of bills in front of me. Get out a roll of duct tape and transform myself into the michelin man. Now I am all taped up and secure and ready to brave some lovely street in the microcentro carrying more cash than the average argentine makes in in a lifetime.

Variation 1 -

Basically a full sprint right out the door , probably very abrubtly without even indicating i was ready to go to my escriabano, just go into the bathroom at the bank and literally come out in full sprint into the street , run a serpetine route to nearest 4 or 5 star big hotel where i would already have a room key and head straight to the room.

Thoughts?


Variation 2 -

Have friend with me faint on the sidewalk in front of the bank/cambio causing a bit of scene to attract a few police and maybe an ambulance , I really don't trust the cops who stand at the banks/cambios but I figure if a few are around I should be ok. Slip into the crowd and then dash for the hotel. I will have the money very secure on my body so my concern is a targeted attack not a random mugging I will have an emergency decoy bag with me.

Thoughts?

Question -

What can I do to ensure the authenticity of the bills I am getting , obviosuly I can bring a counterfeit pen but I have heard those are unreliable, is there another good portable method I could bring with me. I know they use the machines at the bank but I have zero faith.

FYI - Armor car service doesnt really help me beacuse I need to get this money out of the country not to another bank or safe deposit. I don't want to roll up to some hotel in armored car that just keeps my trail hot.


Part 2-

So assuming all goes to plan I am now some random guy sitting in a nice hotel room with a few 100k.

I guess I would tape up again and use the hotel car service for a ride to the airport, again my security concern is much lower at this point the cash will be body taped.

Questions -

Do I need to declare the money at the airport outbound, what are the implications of this? Am I doing anything illegal in Argentina, will they stop me from leaving with it or just ask for information.

Ferry ? Having used the ferry to montevideo before I know there is/was? almost no migration control or security so maybe that's the way to go?

Also once I get back in the US I intend to check the yes box on the $10,000 or more question. What will happend at that point does anyone have any experience doing that?



I really appreciate any input, thoughts, ideas and experiences that might help.

I am actually a fairly frequent contribiutor to the board but started a new username as I embrace my paranoia.

 

[bestplizzy]

Good Luck!

 

[steveinbsas]

If you are a male you will get a security pat down at EZE. If the money is taped to your body you are probably going to be physically searched and asked a lot of questions you don't want to answer, especially if you are carrying significantly more cash than the amount stated in the escritura.

Perhaps you can fly to Montevideo from the Aeroparque and not have to deal with so much scrutiny.

 

[Rabel]

I do not know the amount you're planning to transfer. But I advice you to go to a bank and make a wire transfer. The problem here aren't the banks but the gov. An advice from an argentine. Good luck

 

[MizzMarr]

My understanding is if you don't declare the money that you are traveling with, you could potentially lose a large percentage of it in fines. My tact in this situation would be to do the Banco Piano wire transfer (though last time i looked into that was almost 2 years ago, so things might have changed) and just get it into your account in the States. You'll lose some with the transaction fees, but it will probably be worth the price to not have to stress carrying that much money around!! You can ask your bank and ask the clerks at Banco Piano to determine what the current fees and delays are. Any chance you can travel with someone else as well to share the burden of carrying any extra cash? Best of luck.

 

[nikad]

I have a few ideas:
I know there is a branch office of BROU bank in the city ( Uruguayan bank ) maybe you can open an account there, deposit the money ( move it with an Armor truck service they charge 5 0/00 of the total. Travel safely to Uruguay and wire from there to your US bank acct. (I am unsure if this would work but it is an option). Also Brinks armor truck service offers cash transporting by plane fully insured, but again I do not know how this works, you can call the company and ask (?). There are " cuevas " that would wire the money but I am sure they have limits to the amounts, etc ( basically this works like Banco Piano, but you do not need to declare the sum ). What about Amex Traveler checks? Just brainstorming here. One thing is for sure: I would not exit any bank with that cash PERIOD.

 

[French jurist]

If you want safety, do the transaction in a bank where you will have previously reserved a safe (problem is usually the banks rent them for 6 months or so minimum, but you don't really care). That way you place the money in the safe and take it little by little.

A 10.000 US$ stack of 100$ bills is about 2 inches thick (to guess the volume).

I say it's a very crazy idea to fly out with so much cash on you, it's probably illegal too since there's a strict control of the money going out of Argentina.

Another solution :
- rent the safe
- do the transaction
- take with you 10 or 20K
- go to Uruguay (10K limit)
- open a bank account there (some banks allow opening a non resident bank account with a 1000$ deposit that you'll need to leave on the account. A Visa card is a 5$ a month expense. Accounts are multicurrency. Outgoing wire is easy but you'll be flagged by the IRS since Uruguay tops the list of "fiscal paradises").
- Repeat the operation (trip to Uruguay with 10K) as many times as you need.

I don't want to give illegal advices though and it's very possible that Argentina taxes a bit outgoing transfers.

I don't think it's possible to deposit the money in Argentina in an Uruguayan bank and wire it outside so easily (Uruguayan banks in Argentina are subject to Argentinean law of course).

As for casas de cambio, there's no reason why they would sc--w you. If you get a list of 10 respectable casas de cambio, eventually divide the risk by 6 and do 6x50K transfers if the total is 300K.


Again, it's pure demency to walk in the street with a 6 figures amount on you and you started it all wrong by asking on a public forum, if I may (if the site is monitored, your IP can be logged and traced back to you).
Play it safe : do the transaction in a bank where you will previously rent a safe.

As for counterfeited dollars, it takes some training but it's not that hard to check the bills (the US treasury website has a special page about it if I recall).

Good luck

 

[syngirl]

I think the transfer to Uruguay is probably the best, except that I don't know if they now have residency reqs for opening accounts (they were part of that whole shakedown of tax-free banking nations by the USA so may have had to change some of their procedures)

You'll have to research penalties for USA. For here -- well, are you a resident? Isn't there some huge AFIP penalty for foreigners who sell property -- like they want 30% or some craziness. If that's the case, I suspect that if you were discovered at the airport the conversation with the duanas would boil down to pay them a really good chunk of cash right there, or they'll call AFIP on you....

I'm no expert, but please, regardless of the outcome, post the results on the board so we can all hear what happens!

 

[nikad]

To avoid counterfeit bills, they sell these useful and very cheap detectors in the shape of a pen, get yourself one.

 

[French jurist]

Yes, I didn't check the precise laws but depending on your migratory status you could be supposed to pay taxes on the transaction.
In fact the escribano could actually be obliged to contact AFIP (I don't know but maybe) if you are not a resident (I don't know if you are).

Syngirl might be right about opening an offshore bank account in Uruguay, I had enquired about this back in 2007, before the bashing of such banking places.