Kitsa Panos is the prime example of the "American Dream" turned into the "Golden Dream."

Immigrating from Greece in 1962 with just a suitcase of clothes, she started with nothing and built an empire of real estate holdings, designer jewelry collections, gold bullion, and priceless antiques.

Between 1973 and the present day, Kitsa and Gregory Panos' restaurants produced an enormous amount of undeclared cash that must be laundered and invested to maintain its value.

Kitsa Panos is known as a shrewd businesswoman who counted "every penny" and invested wisely, creating a real estate empire of apartments, shopping centers, waterfront homes, land, and numerous businesses.

Undeclared cash from her famous restaurants, The Greek Taverna, Mama Cucinas, and the Crazy Greek, is not easily invested in real estate without red flags to the IRS. Over 50 years, Kitsa Panos invested millions of dollars into gold, gold coin collections, designer jewelry, diamonds, precious stones, and valuable antiques.

Kitsa Panos' uncle, Diamiantis Drizos, an affluent jeweler in Greece, provided Kitsa Panos with designer luxury jewelry at wholesale prices. Kitsa Panos would make frequent yearly trips to Greece to purchase the jewelry, or her uncle would bring it to her in Virginia. The exchanges became so regular that Kitsa and Gregory Panos maintained numerous U.S. Dollar accounts with Westminster Bank in Athens, Greece, to conduct jewelry and gold purchases.

Close family members have boasted that the multi-million-dollar collections are kept in 3 safes hidden at their main residence at 425 Regina Lane, on the grounds of the Richmond Country Club. They affectionately named it "little Fort Knox" for the "Queen's jewelry."

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 In 1988, Kitsa and Gregory Panos also used undeclared cash to buy their waterfront beach home at 700 Florida Boulevard in Crystal Beach, Tampa Bay area. They recently renovated their home after hurricane damage, and it is now valued at over $3,000,000.

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Kitsa and Gregory Panos built a multi-million-dollar $ property on the Rappahannock River in Whitestone, Virginia, where the Panos family visits for weekend retreats.

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Kitsa Panos' restaurant empire of Greek Taverna and Mama Cucinas does not generate as much cash as it did decades ago, as banking transactions have shifted to 90% electronic payments. Yet with the rise in gold prices to $ 4,400 per ounce, Kitsa Panos' jewelry, gold bullion, and gold coin collections have increased in value to $8,000,000 alone, not including the priceless antiques at her home.