River Rock Casino and Resort in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada has been under investigation for alleged money laundering. However, Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he sees no reason to increase the budget for extra police at the property. “I don’t think we would draw a straight line between the issues River Rock has been dealing with and our budget. We’ll be looking at a more overall situation to see what police services we need,” Brodie stated. He noted Richmond receives federal funds through the provincial government for anti-money laundering enforcement.
Under an agreement with B.C. Lottery Corporation, Richmond receives 10 per cent of net gaming revenues annually from River Rock. The council agreed to fund an additional four police officers to minimize street crime when the facility opened in 2004. That year, the city received $7.5 million from the casino. From 2005- 2010, the city received about $12 million a year. By 2014, Richmond received $20.1 million. The city continues to fund four additional officers for the casino, costing $700,000 annually.
Brodie said, “Policing has many components. There are lots of different aspects to it. Just because you get more money from River Rock does not mean it’s directly linked to the amount of money that goes into policing the community.”
Postmedia recently uncovered an extensive investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police into alleged money laundering at River Rock. In 2010, BCLC reported 491 suspicious transactions o the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. By 2014, 1,737 suspicious transactions were reported–10 per cent of total gambling revenue in all B.C. casinos.
Postmedia also reported River Rock was involved in an underground banking network that has been lending suspicious, illegal-drug cash to high-rolling Chinese gamblers recruited from Macau who were banned from B.C. casinos. The report said the gamblers use the money to buy chips “with troubling ease,” and then “wash” the proceeds of crime. The banned high-rollers used “proxy” bettors to avoid suspicion. Also, a review of play at high-limit tables at River Rock concluded that “refining” was occurring—allowing gamblers to buy millions of dollars in chips with $20 bills in “street” money and cash out with bundles of clean $100 bills, suitable for banking.
The report stated, “Sites knowingly accepted cash that they acknowledged was obtained from questionable sources. Industry indicators of suspicious activity were present in all incidents in which the cage accepted the cash.”
BCLC spokeswoman Laura Piva-Babcock said, “As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, we will be undertaking a review of this matter to determine if further direction is required.”
