Vancouver Sun January 8, 2011

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Province+review+cash+transaction+rules+amid+laundering+allegations/4079187/story.html

RCMP concerned about suspicious money movement

Amid RCMP claims that B.C. casinos are being used for money laundering, Solicitor-General Rich Coleman announced Friday the government will review how large cash transactions are regulated.

Coleman, the minister in charge of gaming, will consult with agencies including the B.C. Lottery Corporation, the gaming policy and enforcement branch (GPEB), police and other stakeholders, according to a statement issued late Friday afternoon.

"In saying this, it is important to note that through GPEB, the province has been actively engaged with the RCMP's proceeds of crime section since last summer to identify areas of existing legislation that can be used to prevent organized crime organizations from laundering money in B.C. casinos," Coleman said. "RCMP have indicated to me our casinos are fully compliant with all regulatory reporting requirements, however the issue of whether or not a cash transaction should be reported as large or suspicious does deserve greater attention and we are prepared to do just that."

The ministry will report its findings publicly by the end of February.

Under Canadian law, any cash transaction larger than $10,000 -- whether at a bank, currency exchange or casino -- must be reported to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (Fintrac) using a Large Cash Transaction Report.

But agencies are also required to send a more detailed Suspicious Transaction Report to Fintrac whenever they have reasonable grounds to believe a transaction is related to money laundering or terrorist financing.

Insp. Barry Baxter, head of the B.C. RCMP's proceeds-of-crime section, said his investigators began to notice a few months ago that dozens of casino transactions they believe should have been flagged as suspicious were in fact only reported as large.

NDP gaming critic Shane Simpson said the review is "the right thing to do," but noted it should be done by an independent body.

"I don't want to hear that the lottery corporation is investigating itself, or that the policy enforcement branch is investigating itself," he said.

Simpson is also calling upon Liberal leadership candidates to pledge to divide the GPEB and BCLC into separate ministries.