Vancouver Sun

Money laundering report's release will be delayed

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The final report from B.C.'S public inquiry into money laundering was to be submitted to the government Friday, but it will be awhile before it is made public.

The New Democrat government appointed B.C. Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen in May 2019 to lead the inquiry after several official reports concluded that hundreds of millions of dollars linked to organized crime and the drug trade had affected the province's real estate, luxury vehicle and gaming sectors.

The Cullen Commission's website says its mandate includes making findings of fact on the extent, growth and methods of money laundering in B.C. and whether the acts or omissions of regulatory agencies and individual­s “contribute­d to money laundering in the province or amount to corruption.”

Since spring 2020, the commission heard testimony from about 200 witnesses over 130 days, including former B.C. premier

Christy Clark, several former and current cabinet ministers, police officers, gaming officials and financial crime experts and academics.

Two senior gaming investigat­ors testified that they raised concerns in 2009 with gaming and government officials, including cabinet ministers, about increasing amounts of cash in Vancouver-area casinos that they suspected was connected to organized crime.

Attorney General David Eby testified he appointed an independen­t review of money laundering at B.C. casinos after watching videos of gamblers picking up large bags packed with $20 bills outside casinos and bringing them inside the venues.

Eby, who received a copy of Cullen's report along with Finance Minister Selina Robinson and solicitor general Mike Farnworth, says the government plans to release the report, but he didn't provide a date.

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