Buyer used secret shell company to purchase $47 million Key Biscayne mansion

Guess that means we’re not invited to the housewarming.

The buyers of a $47 million mansion on Key Biscayne used a Delaware shell company to keep their identities hidden from the public.

Miami-Dade County property records list the company that bought the two-acre property late last month as Delaware-based Boca Breeze. Companies incorporated in Delaware don’t have to declare their owners or officers as part of the public record. Wealthy people often use them to maintain confidentiality about their activities.

Many buyers of high-end South Florida homes use shell companies to stay anonymous, potentially allowing criminals and corrupt foreign officials to launder money through local real estate.

The Key Biscayne mansion, at 775 S. Mashta Dr., sold for the second-highest price ever paid for a home in Miami-Dade. The property was once part of a massive estate owned by Miami pioneer W.J. Matheson. It housed a mysterious Levantine mansion that Matheson built during World War I and used to entertain the scions of America’s wealthiest families.

This story was originally published January 12, 2016 at 11:39 AM with the headline "Buyer used secret shell company to purchase $47 million Key Biscayne mansion."