The antennae of law enforcement officials in British Columbia set to vibrating recently when they noticed that a large number of “housewives” and “students” listed as high rolling whales at the Canadian province’s casinos.
Gaming officials audited a year of business at the Richmond River Rock Casino, to see if they could find a pattern, possibly of money laundering by the mob.
The “housewives” betting was considered unusual because of the large amounts involved, and stacks of bills in small denominations. One student was shown to have bet more than $800,000 over 12 months.
The reason this is seen as suspicious is because housewives and students don’t have an official source of income, said BC Attorney General David Eby. He told the Globe and Mail: “So for people who don’t have any apparent source of income showing up and playing with large amounts of cash, it seems to me this should have been a red flag.” He added, “We are doing that now, asking ‘where did you get this box of cash from?’ – literally a box, or a duffle bag, of cash.”
