This week, British Columbians learned the price paid by ordinary people for money laundering by organized crime.
Dirty money is not a problem contained to casinos and the luxury car trade. It involves billions of dollars tumbling through the real estate market, inflating prices at a time when residents are struggling with unaffordable housing.
The B.C. NDP government has now released the final instalment of a series of reports on money laundering. The government’s experts have established that large-scale, transnational money laundering by organized crime is taking place throughout the provincial economy − an estimated $5-billion just in the real estate sector last year.
B.C. Attorney-General David Eby plans to meet with federal Organized Crime Reduction Minister Bill Blair to discuss next steps, and the B.C. cabinet will soon decide whether to call a public inquiry.
But B.C.’s investigations also revealed that the province is not alone in its challenges. Ontario, Alberta and the Prairies face similar problems. “This issue feels like a national-level crisis,”
On Friday, speaking to reporters in Edmonton, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the findings “extremely alarming,” and promised action. “This is a real and pressing problem for Canadians and it’s a problem around the world that Canada is going to continue to lead in the fight against.”
CASINOS AS LAUNDROMATS
The reports kicked off with Dirty Money, which was released in June, 2018 and looked at money laundering in Lower Mainland casinos.
In that report, former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German said local casinos had for many years “unwittingly served as laundromats for the proceeds of organized crime.” He catalogued a host of problems, including a flagship anti-money-laundering software system that didn’t work –
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See Also:
(2) How bad is Canada’s money laundering problem? We don’t really know
(3) Alberta questioning B.C.’s money-laundering report
(4) B.C. must set clear terms, timeline if it holds money-laundering inquiry: expert
(5) Realtors call for land registry to crack down on money laundering
