Charges stayed in major money laundering case at casinos
Criminal charges have been stayed relating to a high-profile RCMP investigation that alleged money laundering, underground banking and suspected drug cash used to fund VIP Chinese gamblers in B.C. casinos.
Last week in Richmond provincial court, charges were stayed by the Crown on money laundering the proceeds of crime, possession of property obtained by crime and two counts of failing to ascertain the identity of a client against Silver International Investments Ltd., Caixuan Qin, 34, and Jain Jun Zhu, 43.
These were the only criminal charges related to the RCMP’s E-Pirate investigation, where the Mounties allege they uncovered more than $500 million from a Richmond money-laundering service they said handled up to $1.5 million a day.
Just before the stay of charges, a five-week trial had been scheduled for Qin, Zhu and Silver International stretching from January to April in 2019.
Federal prosecutors and police would not say explicitly why the charges were stayed.
RCMP national headquarters spokeswoman Staff Sgt. Tania Vaughan said in a written statement the charges were stayed for several reasons that materialized during the course of the file, the nature of which will not be discussed in any detail given operational sensitivities.
“We have no further comment at this time,” Vaughan said from Ottawa. “The RCMP, in collaboration with its partners, remains committed to combating money laundering and financial crime.”
In a written statement, Public Prosecution Service of Canada spokeswoman Nathalie Houle said the charges did not meet its prosecution test, which stipulate there be a reasonable prospect of conviction on evidence likely to be available at trial and it would best serve the public interest.
Money laundering and its effects on the B.C. economy — including in the real estate market — have been a heated issue of public concern.
RCMP and B.C. government documents obtained through freedom-of-information allege that organized criminals used Silver International as an illegal bank to wash drug money. According to the allegations, a network of “private lenders” in Richmond lent cash from Silver to VIP gamblers recruited from China. These high-rollers visited B.C. for gambling junkets, according to these allegations, and received hockey bags full of cash.
Officials allege these loans allowed wealthy gamblers to get money in Canada, bypassing China’s tight-capital export controls, and pay back the loan through underground banks in China. The VIPs were able to buy betting chips with street-cash $20 bills, mostly at Richmond’s River Rock Casino, and later cash out with $100 bills more suitable for investment in B.C., an audit by B.C.’s gaming enforcement policy branch alleges.
In August, at a Vancouver conference attended by law enforcement, RCMP Insp. Bruce Ward outlined the details of E-Pirate. The investigation started with surveillance of gambling and cash drops at River Rock Casino, documents say, which led to Silver’s cash house, about a 10-minute drive away. Ward said RCMP surveillance identified 40 different organizations linked to Asian organized groups dealing cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Individuals were delivering “suitcases laden with cash” to Silver’s cash house.