Money laundering fallout will impact next BC election: political expert
Posted July 1, 2018 12:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A promise to crack down on crime making Vancouver a haven for money launderers may be a tall order for BC’s Attorney General to fill.
David Eby’s pledge to correct mistakes made by the previous Liberal government includes expanding the scope of this investigation outside shady transactions in casinos.
“We need to be looking at real estate, luxury automobiles and horse racing. So, we’re taking those very seriously. I don’t feel badly about the idea that we would chase criminals out of BC.”
SFU political scientist David Moscrop says Eby’s intentions may be good, but voters could turn on him if he doesn’t deliver.
“And that’s why governments get replaced. Voters will give new governments a bit of a grace period, but then they expect them to get the job done. If it goes poorly for them, I don’t think voters are going to accept, ‘Well, the Liberals made a mess and we just weren’t able to fix it.’ They’ll say, ‘Oh, no, no, no. That’s why we elected you. Get on with it.”
He adds, the best thing for the Liberals to do now is simply keep quiet and watch what happens next.
“Eat a lot of humble pie and mostly keep their mouths shut. They screwed up the issue. They did a terrible job and now it’s on the government of the day to do something about it and to their credit, they’re off to a pretty good start. If they get this right, then, they’ll get a boost in the next election on that issue and that’s the game we play.”
Eby admits it’s not going to be easy to trace dirty money used to buy big-ticket items.
“When you crack down on one area, it’s like a water bed. When you push on it, it moves to another area of the economy. We’ve got to follow that wave and we have to be aggressive about it.”
A report made public last week shows casinos have been exploited in what’s known as the Vancouver model for laundering cash.
Former RCMP deputy commissioner Peter German found crime groups, primarily from Asia, laundered drug money later used to buy property.
Eby ordered the review last year –shortly after learning someone at Richmond’s River Rock casino accepted 13.5 million dollars worth of 20-dollar bills from a single gambler during July of 2015.
The 48 recommendations in German’s report titled DIRTY MONEY include detailed instructions for better tracking of cash considered the proceeds of crime.
He’s also suggesting the creation of an independent regulator funded by gaming revenue and a designated gaming police force with a focus on the Lower Mainland.
