Sure it's not money on some C&D account, but it's just as visible (capital is stocks and other forms of equity, land, and other rights, like patents, royalties, options).
The US is still the wild west in many regards (from good old identity fraud to sheriffs/judges/prosecutors with license to bully anyone without the right connections) and of course the basically institutionalized various other scams come to mind (thriving MLMs, tax exempt religious orgs and megachurches, doctors turned sales-reps for opiates, payday loans, untouchable plants and mining operations polluting and leaving deadly open pits, you know ...), but if there's one thing you can't really fault the US for is getting lazy on private property regulations. And neither the IRS nor the CA FTB is known for being completely clueless.
