April 11, 2016
The newly announced Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team hopes to make a dent in money laundering and shady transactions taking place at B.C. casinos. And for good reason.
Those “suspicious cash transactions” have reached a staggering $119 million in the last 12 months, according to a B.C. government document that accompanied Monday’s announcement of a crackdown.
According to Kevin Hackett, chief operating officer of the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C., the new investigative unit has been created to curtail a wide range of suspicious activity, including “people walking in [to a casino] with hockey bags full of money.” At the unveiling of the joint team in Vancouver, B.C. Finance Minister Mike de Jong referred briefly to a bar graph that showed “suspicious cash transaction reports for the Lower Mainland as received … from gaming service providers …”
The graph shows a peak last July of $20.7 million in suspicious cash transactions — but de Jong did not refer to the total for the past 12 months. But the chart does and according to it, the total amount of suspicious cash transactions since April of last year was $119.1 million.
The government claims it has already implemented some anti-money laundering strategies at B.C. casinos, including:
Actively promoting the use of cash alternatives such as debit cards, convenience cheques and patron gaming fund accounts.
Requiring that casino chips only be used at a single facility.
Restricting the passing of chips on casino floors.
Placing restrictions on patrons exchanging small bills for large currency denominations.