The Attorney General of British Columbia said that new gambling rules aimed at tackling money laundering in the province’s casinos apply for everyone.
Mr. Eby refused to make comments on private issues such as the incident which happened to Canadian rapper Drake at Parq Vancouver but emphasized on the fact that no exceptions to rules are to be made, referring to the new requirement for casino patrons to disclose sources of cash deposits exceeding CA$10,000.
As revealed by Casino Reports, a few days ago, Drake used his Instagram account to reveal that the Parq Vancouver casino’s staff prevented him from playing at the venue, despite he had provided them with everything they had originally asked him for. The rapper blamed the casino for profiling him and called Parq Vancouver “the worst-run business” he had ever seen.
The casino issued two statements following the incident, apologizing for what happened but also explained that its staff was simply complying with the standard procedure rolled out as a result of the anti-money laundering measures imposed by British Columbia’s regulators.
Reddit User Disproves Drake’s Version of the Story
Despite the wave of Drake fans’ outrage, the rapper’s version of the story was disputed by a Reddit user who claimed he is an employee of the casino. According to the user “O-A-N”, Drake went against the rules requiring him to provide more information about the cash source and explained that the casino staff refused him service because of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) new policy mentioned above.
The Reddit user further explained that the employees of the casino did everything they could to allow the rapper to gamble, including calling up representatives of the regulator. He also noted that the Canadian superstar was thoroughly informed of the policy in question at the time he was refused service and was aware of the fact that he would have broken the law if the Parq Vancouver had allowed him to gamble, for which the venue could lose its gambling license.
According to an update in the user’s post, Drake “did in fact gamble for a while” at the casino. However, the rapper had eventually lost everything and tried to buy-in again with cash, which he was refused.
The user was reached by StarMetro for more information but did not respond to the email requiring some details and confirmation. Later CTV News revealed that it managed to verify the events thanks to another source which was left unnamed.
As mentioned above, the province’s General Attorney did not name the rapper at the time he commented on the situation but explained that new rules were implemented to make sure that all suspicious gambling transactions stay away from casinos.
Mr. Eby further praised the regulators for the changes made, as the new regime has resulted in a massive decline in “suspicious transactions” in British Columbia, despite the casino operators’ previous concerns with the possible impact which such measures could have had on their businesses.
