B.C. looking into casino money laundering

• British Columbia’s attorney general has announced a review of the province’s anti-money laundering controls in B.C. casinos over concerns Chinese high rollers are purchasing gambling chips with massive wads of cash that police said could be proceeds of crime.

David Eby called for the review after reading a report about a casino taking in $13.5 million in $20 bills without knowing the source of the cash.

The provincial government released the report Friday in response to freedom of information requests by The Vancouver Sun.

The July 2016 report was commissioned by the former Liberal government, and Eby says it should have been made public when it was completed.

Eby said he’ll announce the appointment of an independent expert to review if there are unaddressed issues of money laundering in Lower Mainland casinos.

“We are serious about doing everything we can to identify money laundering activities, and ensure policies are in place to prevent it from occurring in B.C. casinos,” Eby said in a statement Friday.

The report focuses mostly on allegations of “unsourced cash” flowing into Richmond’s River Rock Casino. It says the casino was known to have accepted single cash buy-ins in excess of $500,000.

Auditor MNP LLP notes in the report that the enforcement branch “compiled a document which identified approximately $13.5 million in $20 bills being accepted in River Rock in July 2015.”

“Law enforcement intelligence has indicated this currency may be the direct proceeds of crime,” the report says.

The majority of cash is presented to casino staff by “high-roller Asian VIP clients” who have travelled from China or recently immigrated here from China, the report says.

Investigations and interviews showed that VIPs have been allowed to purchase gambling chips from staff at River Rock with more than $500,000 in small bills at a time.