‘This is her opportunity’: governor Kathy Hochul could forever unmask New York’s financial criminals

A first-in-the-nation transparency act on Hochul's desk would name those involved in financial crimes and potential money laundering

A corporate lobbying group backed by Koch Industries is quietly pressing the Democratic New York governor, Kathy Hochul, not to sign a landmark transparency bill unmasking the owners of shell corporations involved in financial crimes, wage theft and tenant abuses.

High-profile real estate donors to Hochul's campaign also oppose new disclosure requirements for limited liability companies, or LLCs, a notoriously opaque corporate structure that can thwart attempts at both civil and criminal law enforcement by concealing owners' true identities.