{"id":153532,"date":"2020-10-27T18:07:04","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T01:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=153532"},"modified":"2020-10-27T18:44:37","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T01:44:37","slug":"bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/","title":{"rendered":"BC Lottery Corp Investigator Berated by Boss for Investigating Money Laundering Hotbed, Inquiry Hears"},"content":{"rendered":"

A former investigator for the British Columbia Lottery Corp (BCLC) was warned off questioning high rollers at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, Metro Vancouver, by his superiors in 2012.<\/p>\n

\"money
Authorities have long been concerned that Abdul Nacer Benbrika\u2019s influence extends far beyond the prison walls. (Image: Daily Telegraph)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Steven Beeksma told the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in BC Monday that his boss had told him to \u201ccut that sh*t out\u201d five years before River Rock was revealed to have been a hotbed of money laundering.<\/p>\n

The inquiry aims to establish how the province\u2019s casinos were turned into a \u201claundromat for organized crime\u201d in the words of a report into the issue commissioned in 2017 by BC AG David Eby.<\/p>\n

On assuming office that year, Eby discovered that prior reports highlighting BC\u2019s casino money laundering problem had been ignored or even suppressed by the previous provincial government.<\/p>\n

Stacks of Twenties \u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

According to Beeksma, huge amounts of cash began flowing into the province\u2019s casino around 2010. While a VIP buy-in circa 2005 might have been CA$20,000 (US$15,000), now it was CA$800,000 (US$606,000) or more, Beeksma said. It was common to see patrons carrying cash stuffed in bags, usually organized into $10,000 stacks of $20 bills, he added.<\/p>\n

Players could then gamble for a short time before cashing out their chips in $100 bills, a process known as \u201crefining.\u201d The higher denomination bills would receive less scrutiny when deposited in a bank.<\/p>\n

Beeksma said he considered the existence of the $20 bills highly suspicious, since it was very unlikely they would be issued by a bank.<\/p>\n

We had concerns about the cash\u2019s origins for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cThe concern would be proceeds of crime. But with limited information available to us, it was more of an assumption at that time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Warped Economy <\/strong><\/h2>\n

But Beeksma also noted that casinos were not required to inquire about the source of a customer\u2019s funds until new regulations were implemented in 2015.<\/p>\n

Up until then, River Rock had fulfilled its regulatory obligations \u2013 to report large or suspicious cash transactions. It was up to gaming regulators, law enforcement, and Canada\u2019s financial intelligence agency, FINTRAC, to follow them up.<\/p>\n

\n

Regulators believe about CA$1.7 billion (US$1.3 billion) flowed through high-roller accounts linked to the province\u2019s casinos, much of it directed by Chinese-run underground banks with links to the drugs trade.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Even more — an estimated CA$5 billion (US$3.8 billion) per year — was being washed through Vancouver\u2019s property market. So rife was the problem that the BC government recently said it had warped the province\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n

Suspect Gunned Down<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In November 2018, the prosecution of two people suspected of orchestrating much of the money laundering at River Rock and elsewhere collapsed.<\/p>\n

Defendants Jian Jun Zhu and his wife Caixuan Qin ran a company in Richmond called Silver International. Investigators claim it was a front for an underground bank that washed about CA$250 million (US$189 million) a year.<\/p>\n

The case was stayed after the name of a secret police informant was inadvertently revealed by prosecutors during a standard evidence disclosure. It was determined that continuing with the case would place the informant at a \u201chigh risk of death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last month, Jian was shot dead<\/a> by an unknown assailant while dining at a restaurant in Richmond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A former investigator for the British Columbia Lottery Corp (BCLC) was warned off questioning high rollers at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, Metro Vancouver, by his superiors in 2012. Steven Beeksma told the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in BC Monday that his boss had told him to \u201ccut that sh*t out\u201d five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":153533,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBC Lottery Corp Investigator Berated for Investigating Money Laundering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Money laundering Inquiry: British Columbia Lottery Corp's Steven Beeksma was told not to question high rollers at River Rock in Richmond.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BC Lottery Corp Investigator Berated for Investigating Money Laundering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Money laundering Inquiry: British Columbia Lottery Corp's Steven Beeksma was told not to question high rollers at River Rock in Richmond.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-28T01:07:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-28T01:44:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/river-rock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"593\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/\",\"name\":\"BC Lottery Corp Investigator Berated for Investigating Money Laundering\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/river-rock.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-28T01:07:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-28T01:44:37+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"Money laundering Inquiry: British Columbia Lottery Corp's Steven Beeksma was told not to question high rollers at River Rock in Richmond.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-lottery-corp-investigator-berated-by-boss-for-investigating-money-laundering-hotbed-inquiry-hears\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/river-rock.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/river-rock.jpg\",\"width\":1150,\"height\":593,\"caption\":\"The River Rock resort where vast amounts of cash began turning up stuffed into sports bags around 2010, according to Steve Beeksma. 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