According to some newly-emerged source interviews and documents, the managers of the River Rock Casino in Richmond have been allegedly warned that the venue’s employees were destroying paper records of massive cash transactions. The shredded documents could have hinted of the possibility that high-roller gamblers were bypassing scrutiny from the anti-money laundering agency of Canada.
The alleged papers shredding has now emerged as one of the compliance issues associated with the massive money laundering schemes carried out in British Columbia casinos. As reported by Global News, according to sources familiar with the matter, the management of the BC Lottery Corp. (BCLC) had warned the executives of the Great Canadian Gaming about a meeting which took place in April 2017.
Sources and documents obtained by Global News reveal that the management of the Great Canadian Gaming, which currently operates the River Rock Casino, were asked to meet the executives of the BC Lottery Corp. to discuss the large cash transaction compliance of the Richmond gambling venue which has been involved in the ongoing British Columbia money laundering investigation.
Robert Kroeker, the Vice President of Corporate Security at BC Lottery Corp. sent an e-mail to the Great Canadian executives to inform them that BCLC takes its compliance responsibilities very seriously, especially when it comes to personal privacy, financing of terrorist organizations and anti-money laundering measures. In the e-mail, Mr. Kroeker also informed the Great Canadian management about the discussion that was set to be held.
Large Money Transactions Could Have Been Unreported to Fintrac
As mentioned above, an account of the meeting which took place on April 21st, 2017, shows that Great Canadian Gaming executives were informed about the BCLC investigators’ allegations according to which the employees of the River Rock Casino were shredding paper records of large money transactions at certain times in the day. Still, the money transactions in question were below the CA$10,000 limit at which gambling venues are required to file reports to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac).
According to an account of the meeting, the alleged practice of such money transaction records could have led to the chance that documents meant to inform Fintrac for what seemed as suspicious currency transactions might not have been filed. As mentioned above, Fintrac directives require from casinos to report all combined transactions which amount to CA$10,000 or more and were made by one player over a 24-hour period.
The alleged money transaction reports shredding could have left some particularly large cash transactions to pass unnoticed by the authorities. For the time being, it is Fintrac which is entitled with the responsibility to monitor the financial reports of various financial businesses and gambling venues in Canada and take the necessary actions in case that the reporting requirements are violated in any way.
