The Attorney General of British Columbia, David Eby, has asked the Liberal Government to help him in his battle against money laundering. The residents of the Canadian Province were surprised by the investigation of Mr. Eby in criminal money laundering which took place in the Province’s casinos.
The shocking footage of high-rolling gamblers who were literally dragging suitcases of cash into the River Rock Casino in Richmond came as a shock not only to the local residents but to the investigators, as well. Later, the report issued by the former Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) deputy commissioner Peter German issued a special report on the matter, detailing millions of dollars involved in suspicious cash transactions provided even more shocking revelations to the public, triggering calls for a thorough public inquiry.
But the casino and gambling industry has not been the only sector which is to be affected by an investigation on unlawful money laundering. The Canadian Government and bank officials are also investigating massive financial transactions as part of the battle against illegal money laundering and financing of terrorist groups.
However, some experts shared their concern that the measures taken by the Federal Government may be a bit too much, as they believe that business dealings are private, and a number of sectors are currently subject to more scrutiny than expected.
BC Liberals Could Suffer More Criticism During Stage 2 of the Probe
As mentioned above, Mr. German’s findings triggered calls for further measures to be taken by the authorities, including a thorough public inquiry on the matter. Furthermore, the investigation has already spread to other business areas outside gambling, with the second phase of the British Columbian Attorney General’s money-laundering investigation set to kick off in September. This time, the probe will spread to Metro Vancouver’s real-estate market, to check some suspected criminal activity.
According to some media reports, more damage on the Liberal Party will be done, as they have already been facing some questions about the measures they had taken in order to prevent the illegal activity from spreading to the province’s casino venues.
Last Friday, Mr. Eby sent a letter addressed to Andrew Wilkinson, the leader of the Liberal Party, asking him to ignore the cabinet secrecy laws and unveil some high-level confidential documents related to money laundering to the investigators. According to the General Attorney of British Columbia, documents which were prepared for the previous Government’s administration could be very useful to the team investigating the allegations. He pledged that the documents would not be made public and the confidentiality will be kept.
A research has already been released as part of the probe from interviews with authorities such as Fintrac (Financial Transactions and Report Analysis Centre of Canada) and some bank employees. Some specialists have shared an opinion that the research has long gone beyond the majors to a range of financial institutions, with over 30,000 businesses ranging from casino venues, real estate firms, banks, insurers, precious metals traders and securities dealers being subject to the piece of legislation which is now being examined by a Commons committee.
