Canada has been going through a rough period since 2015 as many illegal activities connected to money-laundering have been noticed in this country. A couple of investigations have been conducted since 2015 and it was concluded that there was a network of people who take part in illegal financial transactions that happen underhand. To make matters worse, a couple of casinos have been centers for such activities. One of the casinos that stand out as most connected to money laundering is River Rock Casino Resort. There were a couple of such transactions that were busted in this casino, and according to a couple of news reports, the amount laundered in Canadian casinos is estimated at $2 billion.
Is the Government A Part Of The Scheme?
What really makes the whole thing scary is that investigators found out that certain government financial accounts have been a part of the scheme as well and that most of the money passed through them. Global News issued a report which states that $1.7 billion was probably laundered through casinos in British Columbia, with River Rock even attempting to shred evidence at one point. Moreover, corporate high roller accounts were used in this operation.
It seems that Chinese high rollers are involved in this scheme as well as they used the “patron gaming fund” which is offered by the British Columbia Lottery Corporation. Using this “fund” they were apparently able to launder their funds. Before the investigation, a number that often appeared in the media was $100 million. It was believed that it was an approximate amount of money that had been laundered in Canada through casinos. It turned out the numbers were quite surprising once the investigators gained an insight into the operations connected to this fraud.
The BCLC claimed that everything is in order as they monitor activities related to playing games and Patron Gaming Fund covers unusual activities related to finances. However, Global managed to obtain documents which serve as a proof that there were “suspicious” sources which filled in accounts with funds starting in 2010. That was one of the triggers for starting the whole investigation process. Furthermore, evidence suggests that only ten gamblers from China managed to launder $1.7 billion. These ten people are related to Chinese mafia called the Triad, according to the reports.
Things are slowly getting out of control in Canada, especially because one criminal case related to the investigation collapsed because info about a key witness was “accidentally” revealed. In other words, future cases related to this investigation might be difficult to bring to trial as defense attorneys would always claim the information compromised. In fact, there were many “unintentional” things that happened in this case which really slow down the investigation. At this point, it seems that there is still a lot to find out before conclusions can be drawn.
