British Columbia casinos are in need of an extra control

British Columbia hired a third-party auditor in the hope of reducing the amount of money laundering at land-based casinos.

On Tuesday, October 23, the British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC) announced that it had attracted a third-party auditor to conduct independent monitoring at the region’s three busiest casinos. The purpose of the audit is to support the casino's compliance with the new requirements for funding sources for transactions in excess of $10,000.

BCLC stated that its initial control over the observance of the three casinos of the new rules "determined the need for additional external control, which will continue until the corporation is satisfied that the providers meet all the requirements."

Three casinos are suspected of breaking the rules: River Rock Casino Resort in Vancouver, Grand Villa Casino in Burnaby and Parq Vancouver, which was opened only a year ago. Presumably, Chinese VIP players are laundering money through River Rock. About such frauds it became known in September 2017, when the provincial government was re-elected.

“We will continue to work with the Gambling Policy and Law Enforcement Branch (GPEB), which acts as a provincial gambling regulator, to ensure that service providers comply with new anti-money laundering obligations,” - the BCLC said.

This summer, local authorities strongly recommended the appointment of an independent gambling regulator, since the existing “dysfunctional” system was largely responsible for the fiasco of the province. According to the report, the years of money laundering that was happening right under the government’s nose were possible only because “no one took up the solution of the problem”.