Where did the buck stop? Or, rather, where did the duffel bags stuffed with $20 bills – suspected to be from Vancouver’s deadly, illicit opioid trade – stop? That’s the constant question circling over the public inquiry into money laundering in B.C. during recent testimony from four key executives from the B.C. Lottery Corp. (BCLC), the Crown corporation tasked to manage gambling in the province. Over two weeks, Allison Latimer and Patrick McGowan, counsel for the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C., examined three former heads of security and compliance for BCLC and their boss, president and CEO Jim Lightbody, in an attempt to drill down on what BCLC knew, and did – or did not do – about frequent six-figure buy-ins with small denominations bundled in elastic bands.
Over two weeks, Allison Latimer and Patrick McGowan, counsel for the Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in B.C., examined three former heads of security and compliance for BCLC and their boss, president and CEO Jim Lightbody, in an attempt to drill down on what BCLC knew, and did – or did not do – about frequent six-figure buy-ins with small denominations bundled in elastic bands. “Was it your expectation that for players wanting to buy in at that level it would be much more convenient and easier for them to arrive with a bank draft or have funds wired rather than walking in with a duffel bag or grocery bag full of $20 bills?” McGowan asked Lightbody.
The president of the British Columbia Lottery Corporation says there had long been concerns about suspicious cash circulating in casinos but it wasn t until 2015 that police confirmed the presence of an organized crime threat.
B C lottery president says cash limits at casinos no panacea to fight illegal money alaskahighwaynews.ca - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from alaskahighwaynews.ca Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The president of the British Columbia Lottery Corp. says restricting large cash buy-ins at casinos was not a panacea to fight money laundering despite government concerns and calls for tighter controls dating back to 2015. Jim Lightbody, who is continuing his second day of testimony today at a public inquiry into money laundering, says the former Liberal government told the Crown corporation to consider cash controls at casinos as part of its overall approach to combat money laundering. But Lightbody says the government, including former finance minister Mike de Jong, supported the lottery corporation s anti-money laundering regime that was based on a risk-based approach, which included monitoring and banning some gamblers.