[tengwar2]

The whole point of a laundry is to get money out that has an apparently legitimate source. That isn't happening here.

[bombcar]

That’s one kind of laundry. Another is “how can I funnel millions to my friends and still get a tax deduction”.

[cosmodisk]

I think the correct term is 'syphon'. In my country we had this famous startup raising tens of millions with a product that existed only on paper. Suddenly tons of people employed with salaries triple of what's reasonably expected, tons of marketing fluff and very little substance. It looked almost identical to what OP described. Fast forward a couple of years, they still seem to be doing something but I bet owners did extract a few cool millions out of it.

[weare138]

Exactly. This seems like it might be some type of tax shelter scheme.