British Columbia has been under a close scrutiny over the past several months, following discoveries that casino venues across the region have laundered impressive amounts of cash funded by Asian high-roller casino patrons. Now that it has been confirmed that the money-laundering investigation has tumbled down, questions arise regarding the authorities’ capacity of taking care of such probes.
The province’s Attorney-General Hon. David Eby was among the most disappointed officials learning about the recent crash of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s E-Pirate probe. In the aftermath of this situation, he is more than curious about what led to this failure. Both police and the prosecution are in the spotlight at the moment, as their intrinsic capacity of handling such important investigations was compromised.
Disappointing Results Shown
According to his most recent statement, the true scale of the criminal network is now clear and officials are aware of its span. Voters deserve to learn more about the situation and find out what led to the eventual crash and burn of the E-Pirate probe. The appropriate details and timeline of the events should be publicly issued, striving to shed more light on it.
Over the span of the first several days of investigation, the Attorney-General has managed to discover that the policing and law-enforcement divisions have demonstrated lack of capability when it comes to handling large-scale projects such as this one. They failed to live up to the expectations of both the community of British Columbia, as well as local lawmakers. The E-Pirate investigation was one of the highly discussed ones.
As such, many eyeballs have been drawn to it ever since the scandalous revelations were originally issued. Now, only several weeks before a trial against Silver International Investments Ltd., Caixuan Qin, and Jain Jun Zhu was supposed to take place, things tumble down without any adequate explanation given. It could be recalled that last week saw the Crown staying the criminal charges in Richmond provincial court.
Officials Make an Attempt to Handle Situation
The trial was supposed to last about five weeks, stretching all the way to April 2019. Hon. Eby said that he had several discussions with both Mr. Goodale and the Minister for Organized Crime Reduction, Bill Blair, seeking to see their point of view. He said that their understanding was that the federal government was simply unaware of the actual scale of the criminal network and the impact it has had on the region. It starts to sink in now and potential progress is possible.
When you wake up thinking of something awesome you should have said to your colleagues in cabinet in 2013. https://t.co/6gj5KF5BtD
— David Eby (@Dave_Eby) November 20, 2018
In the meantime, Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale stated that he is conducting his own research on the subject and strives to find out more about the reduction of RCMP funding. It should be taken into account that the previous Conservative government should be blamed for such cuts. He is currently collaborating with RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki, making sure he has a better understanding of the financial situation of the law-enforcement division.
Now it is time for action and changes being made, as there is obviously some deficiency when it comes to the way the apparatus works. Ms. Goodale stated that he is conducting a process which aims to make sure all weak links in the chain are tackled and ultimately strengthened.
