Money laundering has appeared to be among the hottest topics currently in Canada. The disturbing money laundering scandal at British Columbia’s River Rock Casino shook the entire gambling community. At present, the country seems to be on the verge of another controversy, but this time related to the loved-by-many slot machines.
According to the latest news, a review showed that a number of players are wagering sizable amounts of money on slot machines. This raised concerns regarding a possible money laundering activity through slot machines at British Columbia’s casinos.
New documents, obtained by Postmedia News via freedom of information request, raised concerns regarding the control over the slot machines in British Columbia. A review shows that the slot machines might be an easy prey for money launderers. The documents claim that the slot machines attracted the attention of the B.C. gaming policy and enforcement branch officials in 2016, when B.C. Civil Forfeiture Office filed a legal case against Michael Mancini.
In fact, the police stopped Mr. Mancini in the parking lot of the Chances Casino in Chilliwack for a routine drunk-driving check. Quite surprisingly, the officers came across an alleged money-laundering scheme, which triggered the case against Mr. Mancini and the review of the slot-machine jackpot payouts in B.C. casinos.
According to reliable sources, Mr. Mancini was accused of using slot machines at B.C. casinos with the main purpose to launder his ill-gotten cash. It was alleged that the money, which Mr. Mancini was betting originated from illegal drug trade. Mr. Mancini, on the other hand, pleaded not guilty, explaining that he won nearly $2.2 million in one year of playing B.C. casino slot machines fair and square.
What Has Been Revealed So Far
Mr. Mincini’s case inspired B.C. gaming enforcement investigators to conduct a review of the top 10 slot machine players in BCLC casinos. It was announced that the review is to focus on the largest cash transactions from April 2015 to April 2016. The review examined 50 of the latest transactions of over $10,000 per player. The total amount of the transactions capped at $33 million. The documents claim that the biggest portion of the amount came from slot jackpots paid in cash.
The documents are revised in order to protect the ongoing investigations. Hence, the information regarding the names of the 10 gamblers, the amount of money they won and lost remains undisclosed. The review documents also raised concerns regarding the anonymity of the slot machines players and the so-called ticket-in, ticket-out technology (TITO), which prints out a slip of paper with a special bar-code. The players can either redeem it for cash or insert it for play into other slot machines, featuring TITO technology.
