Investigators are not revealing how much dirty money was laundered through businesses connected to the Figliomeni crime family after the arrests of senior members last week, but experts say the fact that casinos were used is a surprising choice given the level of regulation in provincial gaming.
Last week, York Regional Police announced they had arrested eight men and one woman in a sweep that caught the alleged boss, 56-year-old Angelo Figliomeni, in the organization, which they say laundered more than $70-million in Toronto-area casinos.
Police officers have around-the-clock presence in Ontario casinos, a model recommended for adoption in British Columbia last year following a scathing report that exposed how Vancouver-region casinos were “laundromats for the proceeds of organized crime.” Because of provincial safeguards, Ontario is a different story.
“Fortunately, with casinos, a lot of that information is tracked and it helped us,” Detective Sergeant Carl Mattinen, of the Special Operations Bureau, said in an interview.
The document breadcrumb trail left by cash transactions is reinforced with further evidence from wiretaps during the investigation, dubbed Project Sindacato.
“Specifically, as it relates to the money laundering, they’re not as guarded,” compared to when discussing overt crimes, Det. Sgt. Mattinen said, including “violence, or any decisions [that] they know are black-and-white illegal.”
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