(Bloomberg) — Cases of suspected money-launderers buying commercial real-estate have risen tenfold since 2003, as criminals search for better ways to hide funds and avoid taxes, the US Treasury Department said.Money launderers are increasingly investing in commercial properties to hide funds and avoid taxes, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an arm of the Treasury, said in a report. The instances of suspected money launderers buying commercial real estate increased from 15 in 2003 to 159 this year, the agency said, based on a statistical sample.

“Financial professionals should be aware of this activity and be vigilant in looking at these types of transactions,” agency spokesman Steve Hudak said in an interview.

The commercial real-estate industry is the subject of guidelines bank regulators are developing to rein in what they consider to be high concentrations of loans, a lucrative business for many small and mid-sized banks. Suspected money launderers use the industry “to understate business receipts and actual business volumes as a way to avoid audit trails and evade taxes,” the agency’s report said.