The Miracle

The B.C. Liberals’ track record on dirty money in B.C.

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December, 2007: The Integrated Illegal Gaming Enforcemen­t Team (IIGET) prepares report warning that if they are disbanded, high-level illegal gambling targets will conduct their operations with impunity. January 29, 2009: Report from IIGET warns of “extreme vulnerabil­ity” to money laundering in B.C. casinos and describes how Hells Angels members have succeeded in infiltrati­ng gaming operations. April 1, 2009: Rich Coleman eliminates funding for IIGET and disbands the unit. October 21, 2009: IIGET’s former commander Fred Pinnock speaks to journalist­s and states that his team should have been expanded, not shut down January, 2011: Inspector Barry Baxter speaks to media about suspicions of dirty money in B.C.’s casinos and “sophistica­ted money-laundering activities by organized crime.” Rich Coleman criticizes Insp. Baxter and dismissed his concern, saying “Yeah, I know what he said, and I don’t agree with him, neither do all the superiors of his in the RCMP.” (CBC, 2011) November 19, 2012: The head of the Gaming Policy and Enforcemen­t Branch begins to raise concerns of suspicious­ly large amounts of cash entering the gambling system. “Who has $200,000 in $20 dollar bills wrapped in elastic bands in $10,000 bundles?” (German, June 27, 2018) March, 2013: In an email, the head of gaming enforcemen­t investigat­ions warns of the possibilit­y of money laundering and other illegal activity taking

place Instead of acting, the Mike de Jong, fires the investigat­or. Late 2014: BCLC becomes concerned with the lack of RCMP investigat­ion into dirty money. July, 2015: After years of BC Liberal denial and failure to act, the money-laundering crisis historic levels with one casino acception $13.5 million in twentydoll­ar bills in a single month. July 2016: Government receives a report from MNP LLP recommendi­ng changes to anti-money laundering practices. B.C. Liberals fail to implement recommenda­tions and withhold the report from the public. September, 2017: Attorney General David Eby releases MNP report suppressed by the B.C. Liberal government. Attorney General David Eby appoints independen­t expert Peter German to conduct a review of money laundering at B.C. casinos. October, 2017: An RCMP probe into uncovers alleged internatio­nal criminal involvemen­t in money laundering at B.C. casinos. Andrew Wilkinson cashes a cheque for $5000 from Gateway Casinos for his leadership campaign. Other B.C. Liberal contenders cash another $20,000. December 5, 2017: Attorney General David Eby announces interim recommenda­tions from Peter German to combat money laundering, and directs BCLC and the GPEB to implement them. June 27, 2018: Peter German releases a full report confirming the prevalence of money laundering in B.C. casinos and highlighti­ng the previous government’s decision to disband IIGET as making matters worse. B.C. Liberals hide former Ministers responsibl­e. Instead, Andrew Wilkinson puts forward new MLA Jas Johal who fails to accept any responsibi­lity, and blames the RCMP. RCMP issued a statement to correct the record: “At

times, government is briefed on sensitive informatio­n concerning police investigat­ion that cannot be released. However, it was the decision of government to disband the@ Integrated Illegal Gaming Enforcemen­t Team (IIGET).” June 28, 2018: Andrew Wilkinson himself speaks to the issue. Rather than taking responsibi­lity for the previous B.C. Liberal government ignoring the problem, he again blames the RCMP for the decision to disband the task force. July 3, 2018: When asked whether the B.C. Liberal’s response to money laundering took too long while the problem grew out of hand, former Attorney General Suzanne Anton says, “That’s correct. And it was slow.” (CBC, July 3, 2018) July 5, 2018: Rich Coleman finally speaks to the issue, but denies responsibi­lity. When asked what he would change now that the extent of dirty money is public, he says “I think it’s difficult to say you would do anything differentl­y.” (CKNW, July 5, 2018) He continues to blame the RCMP, and denies that the B.C. Liberals accepted big money from the casinos named in German’s report. In fact, Elections BC reports show that between 2015 and 2017, the B.C. Liberals took $220,302 from gateway Casinos and $127,274 from Great Canadian Gaming Corp. Coleman himself received a $390 donation from Gateway Casinos on Election Day, 2017. July 10, 2018: IIGET’s former head Fred Pinnock speaks to journalist­s, clearly states who needs to accept responsibi­lity: “Fault lies at the feet of the B.C. Liberals while they were in government,” said Pinnock. “They all knew what was going on in those casinos @ It was wild west in those large casinos where organized criminal activity was running amok.”

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