A money laundering operation using real estate and the fentanyl trade revealed in an investigative report by the Globe and Mail in British Columbia, could have links to widespread money laundering that the BC Attorney General’s office is currently investigating in the provinces casinos.
The money laundering is so widespread and complex that Attorney General David Eby said last week it could “take years” to solve.
The report detailed drug dealers who loaned drug money to Chinese immigrants, who then put up properties in Vancouver as collateral. The dealers were then repaid in China or when the properties sold. The newspaper claims that the money sent to China is often used to buy fentanyl.
On the TV news program the Simi Sara Show Eby said, “There are really obvious connections in the allegations the Globe is bringing forward and the allegations we’ve been examining at the casinos. Similar names, similar kinds of techniques.”
Eby added, “I feel like we pull on a string here and it’s connected in so many other places you end up following it out to a whole sweater.”
The government’s investigation is headed by retired high ranking Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Peter German, who has been asked to widen his probe to the real estate industry, especially the names, addresses and transactions the Globe uncovered.
Eby added, “One of the big concerns I’ve had on taking office is the real lack of infrastructure to detect, prevent and prosecute financial crimes, money laundering, fraud — especially in relation to money laundering and real estate,” and “Our goal is building up that infrastructure so that it’s somebody’s job to ask, ‘Where did this money come from,’ whether it’s at the casino or whether it’s at the land title registry.”
This investigation could undercut the profits of BC casinos and revenues from property transfer taxes but said the province should be willing to pay the price for cleaning its reputation as a haven for money laundering.
Eby concluded “If we don’t do better financially, at least we’ll know our economy is not built on a foundation of total garbage, and I think that’s critically important.”
