Province heads to court to obtain casino cash
Officials link $100,000 to money laundering, loan sharking, drug trafficking and tax avoidance
The province has applied to the courts to have forfeited $100,000 in cash that a Burnaby man tried to use at the River Rock Casino Resort.
In a separate case, the province wants forfeited $85,000 in cash that was shipped through FedEx by a Calgary-based international money transfer business.
In an application filed in B.C. Supreme Court on June 22, the province’s Civil Forfeiture Office claims the cash presented at the River Rock Casino is the proceeds of crime, alleging it is linked to drug trafficking, money laundering, loan sharking and failure to declare taxable income.
Fan Zhang, along with three associates, produced a bag containing the money at the River Rock Casino on Feb. 20, according to court filings.
The money was bundled or packaged in a manner not consistent with standard banking practices, states the claim. The money was in 11 bundles, mostly $20 bills.
“Mr. Zhang and his associates were unable to provide documentation regarding the source of the money to the River Rock,” according to the civil forfeiture office’s claim.
Richmond RCMP arrived at the River Rock Casino and seized the money.
“Subsequent to the seizure of the money, a police service dog indicated positive for controlled substance residue on the money,” says the claim.
Zhang, whose last known address was in the 6300-block of Grant Street in Burnaby, has not responded to the forfeiture claim.
Zhang has not been charged with a criminal offence, according to a search of court records online.
The threshold for proving a civil forfeiture claim is lower than for a criminal conviction, a balance of probabilities rather than beyond a reasonable doubt.
The $85,000 that was sent through FedEx was seized by Burnaby RCMP on April 28.
The money was being shipped by Canex Forex, a Calgary-based international money transfer and currency exchange business, to FedEx’s Burnaby shipping centre, according to a claim filed on June 22 by the civil forfeiture office.
The cash is alleged to be the proceeds of crime, linked to drug trafficking, money laundering and failing to declare taxable income.
The cash came in two parcels containing 22 bundles of cash, largely in $20 and $50 denominations.
Shipping currency is contrary to FedEx’s policies, and the contents were not declared by Canex Forex, according to the claim.
Named in the civil suit is Saba Sarrafi, the owner and operator of Canex Forex.
He has not responded to the claim.
The day after the money was seized by police, Sarrafi came to the Burnaby RCMP detachment with an associate as a translator. That associate is a “known associate” of
Omid Mashinchi, according to the civil forfeiture claim.
Mashinchi, a former Vancouver realtor, was convicted and sentenced in the U.S. in 2018. He received 24 months in jail after he pleaded guilty to moving cash across the border for Canadian drug gangs.
Sarrafi has not been criminally charged, according to a search of court records online.