BC Casinos Move to Thwart Money Launderers
According to a review that was published this week, the British Columbia government will make major efforts to thwart money laundering crimes at local casinos by taking a number of steps.
For one, casinos will start encouraging gamblers to use electronic means to transfer funds from certified banks or financial institutions. In addition, they will be offered checks for payouts between $5,000 and $10,000.
According to the BC government's gaming policy and enforcement branch, it is making attempts "to move BC's gaming industry away from being a cash business, and thereby building the industry's resistance to money laundering, while not discouraging legitimate play."
Recommendations were made in a review on the way casinos can effectively prevent money laundering in the province. The police have already stated that criminal elements use BC casinos for money laundering.
According to Douglas Scott who serves as BC's assistance deputy minister for public safety in charge of the gaming industry: "The Achilles' heel in money laundering really is the transfer of cash to electronic funds."
Setting Limits at BC Casinos
A critic of gaming, Shane Simpson, said that one of the major attractions for criminals to commit money laundering crime at casinos is the fact there is no limit to how much players can take into a casino.
He complained that the review had not addressed this problem. "I don't think it offers very much in terms of fixing the problem," he said of the review. "For those people who want to conduct illegal activities and engage in money laundering, there is absolutely nothing in this report to say they cannot continue to do what they do today.
The government's Douglas Scott admitted that there was nothing much that could be done to force players to accept a cheque or use electronic funds transfer services.
The police have drawn attention to the fact that some casino transactions over $10,000 had to be reported to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, and were not.
The BC Lottery Corporation's President and CE, Michael Graydon, said that the group was planning to better train its staff in how to identify suspicious transactions and potential money laundering.
