Former British Columbia Gaming Minister Rich Coleman, who previously testified as part of the two-year Crown Cullen Commission investigation of money laundering at BC casinos, was called back to the stand May 14. He was asked about comments he made a decade ago dismissing concerns about illegal activities.
He was the final witness for the inquiry that has been led since 2019 by BC Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen. It followed public outcry over after four reports concluded that hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal cash linked to the mob impacted real estate, luxury vehicle and gaming sectors in the province.
Coleman was asked specifically about statements made January 2011 when he disputed comments by former Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector Barry Baxter, a 34-year veteran of the force, who had warned that “something stinky” was going on at BC casinos.
He later told an interviewer that he didn’t believe Baxter’s concerns and that none of his superiors at the RCMP did either.
He told the inquiry, “I probably got too broad in saying that, adding “I probably went a little too far out with my answer. It may have been unfair.”
He added that he was caught off guard by the question in January 2011, which quoted Baxter telling the Vancouver Sun: “What’s not suspicious about $250,000 in twenties. The average person on the street would go, ‘There’s something stinky about that.’ ”
Coleman was the minister in charge of BC casinos for most of the time from 2001 to 2013. In April he told the commission that it was complicated to enforce anti-money laundering at BC casinos because it was difficult to prove that the cash was illegal.
He testified that the process for establishing a player’s source of cash was “fairly rigorous.”
During Baxter’s testimony he said he was surprised that Coleman had disputed his account so vociferously. “I was taken aback that he would report that supervisors of mine did not agree with me and my position that this was in fact money laundering.”
