The practice of money laundering at Lower Mainland casinos was so well established over the past decade, it had its own name: the Vancouver model.
From there, the report by former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German about how organized crime exploited holes big enough to drive an armoured car through in B.C.’s oversight of casinos just gets worse.
German describes people entering casinos with shopping bags of money – bundles of $20 bills held together with elastic bands.
Vancouver-area casinos have functioned as “laundromats” for cash, eagerly used by international organized crime.
One of the most shocking twists is that authorities were aware of the money laundering years ago, but the government chose not to act. Why? Because the provincial government has for years been a problem gambler itself – addicted to the money that flows to the provincial coffers from gambling and addicted to the economic spinoffs the laundered cash created elsewhere, including in the real estate market.
As German’s report notes, not only did nobody say “no” to the bundled bags of cash, investigators who persisted in raising the issue were told to zip it, while regulators fought each other. The government of the day adopted a “see no evil” approach to the problem.
No wonder local casinos were on the “must visit” list of worldwide gangsters.
And no wonder most senior members of the previous Liberal government found themselves at a loss for words this week.
Attorney General David Eby has his work cut out for him figuring out how to clean up this cesspool of dirty money.
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