{"id":154581,"date":"2020-11-06T04:56:06","date_gmt":"2020-11-06T12:56:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=154581"},"modified":"2020-11-06T10:01:13","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T18:01:13","slug":"top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/","title":{"rendered":"Top BC Lawmaker Let Money Launderers Run Riot in State Casinos, Former Police Commander Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Columbia\u2019s minister in charge of gaming under the province\u2019s former Liberal government had no interest in combating money laundering<\/a> at state-owned casinos, according to a former top police officer.<\/p>\n

\"Rich
Former Liberal minister Rich Coleman was accused Thursday of willfully ignoring British Columbia\u2019s money laundering problem. (Image: Vancouver Sun)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Fred Pinnock was commander of BC\u2019s anti-illegal gaming unit until it was disbanded by the Liberals in 2009. He told a commission examining historical casino money laundering in the province that he held Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General Rich Coleman \u201clargely responsible\u201d for the criminal gangs that were \u201cout of control\u201d at BC Lottery Corp casinos.<\/p>\n

The BC government in general was guilty of \u201cwillful blindness\u201d in the face of rampant money laundering in the province, Pinnock said.<\/p>\n

The Cullen Commission<\/a> is examining how the province\u2019s casino sector was turned into a \u201claundromat for organized crime,\u201d in the words of one independent report, particularly in the years from 2011 to 2015.<\/p>\n

All About the Money<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In Pinnock\u2019s experience, the situation was already \u201cout of control\u201d in 2007. But when he tried to expand the remit of his department to tackle the money laundering gangs, he was shot down by his superiors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt it was a charade and I don\u2019t feel my superiors cared,\u201d Pinnock told the commission, as reported by Canada\u2019s Global News<\/em>. \u201cPublic safety was not a priority of my superiors with respect to gaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pinnock also recounted a meeting with then-solicitor general Kash Heed, where he aired his concerns about the problem and Coleman\u2019s alleged lack of interest.<\/p>\n

I told him I am convinced that Rich Coleman knows what\u2019s going on inside those casinos,\u201d Pinnock recalled. \u201cAnd Kash Heed confirmed my perception that I was accurate in my belief, and he did feel that Rich Coleman had created this.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cHe said to me, in effect, \u2018That is what is going on, Fred. But I can\u2019t say that publicly. You know, it\u2019s all about the money.’\u201d<\/p>\n

BC Lottery Corp Casinos generated CA$1.814 billion in the 2015\/16 fiscal year.<\/p>\n

Enforcement Vacuum<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Pinnock\u2019s battles with his superiors in the BC Mounties, as well as the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch, eventually led to him taking medical leave in 2007. A year later, his unit was disbanded, three months after it compiled a damning report on BC\u2019s casino\u2019s infiltration by organized crime.<\/p>\n

This left an enforcement vacuum in the province until 2016, when BC launched an anti-gang unit which took up the role of targeting money laundering and casino crime.<\/p>\n

Following the dissolution of his unit, Pinnock asked his then-girlfriend, BC lawmaker Naomi Yamamoto, to approach Coleman with his concerns. But she was publicly berated when she tried to bring the issue up.<\/p>\n

Coleman\u2019s reaction was \u201cbrutal and dismissive and embarrassing,\u201d the commission heard.<\/p>\n

Pinnock is expected to continue his testimony on Friday.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Columbia\u2019s minister in charge of gaming under the province\u2019s former Liberal government had no interest in combating money laundering at state-owned casinos, according to a former top police officer. Fred Pinnock was commander of BC\u2019s anti-illegal gaming unit until it was disbanded by the Liberals in 2009. He told a commission examining historical casino […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":154582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTop BC Lawmaker Let Money Launderers Run Riot in State Casinos<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"British Columbia Liberal lawmaker Rich Coleman \u201clargely responsible\u201d for casino money laundering problem in the province, cops says.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Top BC Lawmaker Let Money Launderers Run Riot in State Casinos\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"British Columbia Liberal lawmaker Rich Coleman \u201clargely responsible\u201d for casino money laundering problem in the province, cops says.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/\" \/>\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=\"2020-11-06T12:56:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-06T18:01:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/coleman.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/\",\"name\":\"Top BC Lawmaker Let Money Launderers Run Riot in State Casinos\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/coleman.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-06T12:56:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-06T18:01:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"British Columbia Liberal lawmaker Rich Coleman \u201clargely responsible\u201d for casino money laundering problem in the province, cops says.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/top-bc-lawmaker-let-money-launderers-run-riot-in-state-casinos\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/coleman.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/coleman.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":750,\"caption\":\"Former Liberal minister Rich Coleman accused of willfully ignoring British Columbia\u2019s money laundering problem. 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