British Columbia Solicitor General John van Dongen has voiced concerns that criminals are using casinos to launder cash through slot machines, claiming the money as 'winnings' to make it legitimate.
In a recent interview he said “It concerns me a great deal”, adding that he has requested a meeting with the Lottery Corp. to discuss the matter. “The goal of our government is to ensure that casino gaming is conducted responsibly and with integrity. The understanding I have is that certain suspicious currency transactions are not being reported”.
Gaming officials are concerned that criminals may be laundering under $10,00 at a time through slot machines so that they will not trigger a report to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, which is responsible for tracking suspected money laundering and terrorist financing, and alerting police.
The concerns were highlighted following a recent case where a drug trafficker pleaded guilty to money laundering by feeding bills into a casino slot machine, playing for a while, then cashing out. The machines do not feed out money, but instead issue a stub for the remaining credit, which is converted to a cheque by casino cashiers. The check can then be deposited into a bank account as casino 'winnings'.
The BC Lottery Corp. is investigating this problem, and casinos are also reviewing their procedures to make it easier to track and report such transactions.
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