Shadowy Purchase of Air Force Base-Adjacent Land Raises Security Fears
DARK MONEY?
Flannery Associates acquired 52,000 acres near one of the most important U.S. military installations. Nobody can find out who they are, or why they bought it.
U.S. Air National Guard/Airman 1st Class Tra'Vonna Hawkins/Handout via REUTERS
Local, federal, and military authorities have all failed to identify the investors who scooped up 52,000 acres of land near a major California Air Force base—and now the purchase is raising national security alarms. The Wall Street Journal reported that shadowy investment group Flannery Associates bought up the massive plot of land abutting Travis Air Force Base over the last five years. An attorney for the group insists that it’s composed almost entirely of American investors, but investigators with the Air Force have been unable to verify the claim. Local government officials are also bewildered by the purchase, which encompasses land mostly zoned for agricultural use, The Journal reported. “We don’t know who Flannery is, and their extensive purchases do not make sense to anybody in the area,” said Rep. John Garamendi (D–CA), who has pushed for a broader investigation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S.
