Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a statement in relation to the money-laundering scandalous revelations directly related to British Columbia’s gaming industry. Amid a whirlpool of revelations and increasing estimations of the overall amount of cash washed through casino venues in the province, Prime Minister Trudeau stated that at the moment the government is actively seeking information on what facilitated the practice and allowed it to be happening uninterrupted for years.
The saga with casino venues laundering copious amounts of cash continues and almost every day there is new information emerging and further increasing the overall tally. Prime Minister Trudeau recently made it clear that the government is currently going through an extensive inspection in order to locate the issue and see what allowed money-laundering to span over several years. Federal Minister of Border Security and Organized Crime Reduction Bill Blair would be responsible for the positive results of the probe.
Government Looks for What Facilitated Money-Laundering
Prime Minister Trudeau pointed out that the current task at hand would not be accomplishable without the support of the province and collaboration seeking more answers. He said that the government is aware that British Columbians deserve answers and they are eager to receive them, which is what prompted the in-depth research. His recent statement comes amid speculations that the government might have been aware of casino venues laundering dirty cash.
Joe Schalk, former Senior Director of Investigations for British Columbia Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch recently made it clear that between 2008 and 2014 the government has constantly been notified about the suspicious actions taking place in casino venues across the province, River Rock Casino being only one of the facilities where the alleged criminal practice was taking place. Mr. Schalk stated that the government-related British Columbia Lottery Corporation was aware of it and still created an umbrella for laundering to continue.
The discontent across British Columbia and Canada, in general, has prompted the topic of a potential public inquiry that would strive to seek more information about illegal activities related to casino venues and their cash washing practices. If such public input becomes reality, individuals would have the chance to chime in and boost the probe. Prime Minister Trudeau did not mention such an approach was on the government’s agenda at this point.
BCGEU Announces Survey Results
Public Inquiry is a common approach in Quebec, as it offers the community the chance to really look into the issue and attract more eyeballs that are in possession of relevant pieces of information. The province also features Unité Permanente Anticorruption, an anti-corruption unit that battles illegal practices.
The British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union is one of the main supporters of this approach and just now it issued the official results of a survey it conducted earlier this week. According to the information revealed, 77 percent of the permanent resident of British Columbia are willing to see public inquiry in the foreseeable future.
Almost 80 percent of the participants of this voting pointed out that the province could benefit from the introduction of an anti-corruption unit following the Quebec model. BCLC is the corporation that is considered to have facilitated this and many of the respondents were convinced that it should take responsibility for its actions and inactions.
