{"id":97506,"date":"2019-02-01T14:00:03","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T22:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=97506"},"modified":"2019-01-31T10:22:27","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T18:22:27","slug":"bc-casino-money-laundering-estimates-soar-criminals-used-government-accounts-to-clean-their-cash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-estimates-soar-criminals-used-government-accounts-to-clean-their-cash\/","title":{"rendered":"BC Casino Money Laundering Estimates Soar, Criminals Used Government Accounts to Clean Their Cash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Estimates surrounding the amount of criminal money laundered through British Columbia\u2019s (BC) casinos have shot up exponentially, with a new report putting the figure at nearly $2 billion. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"bc
BC\u2019s River Rock Casino was a prime location for laundering hundreds of millions (Image: Cvent)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That\u2019s a far cry from the original $100 million appraisal made by former RCMP executive Peter German when he released his \u201cDirty Money\u201d report<\/a> last summer. <\/span><\/p>\n

The figure has grown since then, with some saying that $200 million had been illegally laundered, while others pegged it at closer to $1 billion.<\/span><\/p>\n

But according to a new report by Global News, regulators now believe that as much as $1.7 billion, maybe more, filtered through BC\u2019s casinos via corporate high roller accounts, apparently bankrolled by \u201cloan sharks and criminal bank drafts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The investigation originally zeroed in on individuals who were laundering their criminal proceeds via bags of cash at casino cages. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

But information obtained by Global reveals that high rollers, mostly form China, have been taking advantage of Canadian banks as well as the provincial regulator itself, brazenly using the BC Lottery Corporation\u2019s (BCLC) \u201cpatron gaming fund\u201d to launder money as well. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Investigators now say that about $1.7B in \u201csuspected dirty money\u201d flowed through the government\u2019s own accounts between 2010 and 2018, a total expected to rise to $2B by the time it\u2019s all said and done. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bogus Bank Drafts<\/span><\/h2>\n

The revelations put the provincial government in a tough spot. Not only do its original estimates of $100M appear way off, but the fact that criminals were using government accounts is a bad look. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnly funds sourced to a recognized financial institution may be placed in a patron gaming fund (PGF) account at account opening,\u201d<\/strong> the BCLC said in a statement. \u201cBCLC monitors play activity and PGF account activity and investigates unusual activity \u2014 including by requesting proof of source of wealth.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

However, documents acquired by Global reveal that those accounts were financed via \u201csuspicious\u201d bank drafts. Further, they were quickly emptied before much of the money was used for gambling. That\u2019s a clear warning sign of money laundering, as is the fact that almost half of the $1.7B came from just 10 Chinese gamblers — VIPs with alleged ties to the Chinese Triad criminal organization.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Collapsing Investigation<\/span><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s the latest black eye in the ongoing BC casino saga. Despite the shocking new developments, the entire investigation is now very much in doubt. <\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this month, it was revealed that the criminal case had collapsed<\/a> after prosecutors accidentally leaked information on a key witness to the defense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

BC Attorney General David Eby acknowledged that something \u201cobviously went terribly wrong,\u201d adding that it was a \u201cdisturbing signal\u201d that such a massive case had collapsed. <\/span><\/p>\n

The future of the criminal investigation into BC\u2019s dirty money scandal is now unclear. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Estimates surrounding the amount of criminal money laundered through British Columbia\u2019s (BC) casinos have shot up exponentially, with a new report putting the figure at nearly $2 billion. That\u2019s a far cry from the original $100 million appraisal made by former RCMP executive Peter German when he released his \u201cDirty Money\u201d report last summer. The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":97514,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBC Casino Money Laundering Estimates Soar, Criminals Used Government Accounts to Clean Their Cash<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The BC casino money laundering scandal now appears to be much larger in scope, with estimates the the amount of cash cleaned via casinos expected to soar to $2 billion.\" \/>\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\/bc-casino-money-laundering-estimates-soar-criminals-used-government-accounts-to-clean-their-cash\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta 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