{"id":104023,"date":"2019-05-01T13:23:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-01T20:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=104023"},"modified":"2019-05-01T13:23:18","modified_gmt":"2019-05-01T20:23:18","slug":"bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/","title":{"rendered":"British Columbia\u2019s Casino Money Laundering Problem Exploded in the Late 1990s: Whistleblower"},"content":{"rendered":"

British Columbia has been rocked by financial scandal<\/a> following revelations that its casinos had become \u201claundromats for organized crime\u201d over the past decade, with Chinese criminal gangs transforming the province into a global money-laundering hub with links to the fentanyl epidemic.<\/p>\n

\"money
British Columbia\u2019s NGP attorney general David Eby pinned the blame for the casino money-laundering scandal on the previous administration, but there are suggestions the root cause may lie further back, with his own party. (Image: Mike Mcarthur\/CBC)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But the scandal may go back further than a decade, to the late 1990s, according to a former whistleblowing casino supervisor, who recently contacted Canada\u2019s Global News.<\/em><\/p>\n

In fact, Muriel Labine remembers the exact moment money-laundering \u201cexploded\u201d in British Columbia and the triad gangs like \u201cthe Big Circle Boys\u201d and \u201cthe Yellow Triangle Boys\u201d moved in.<\/p>\n

In May 1997, the New Democratic Party (NDP) government increased the maximum bets per hand from C$25 to C$500, extended gaming hours, and brought in baccarat tables \u2013 the game favored by Asian high-rollers.<\/p>\n

Within days, the high-rollers flooded in, almost always surrounded by young Asian men prepared to lend them cash, and lots of it.<\/p>\n

Bags Stuffed with Cash<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Labine worked at a property in Richmond owned by Great Canadian Gaming, which Global News<\/em> has declined to name. The former supervisor has provided the news agency with documents and journals recording the alleged infiltration of the casino floor by triad loan sharks who carried with them bags stuffed with cash.<\/p>\n

The revelation is a potential embarrassment to the incumbent government, which largely pinned the problem on the previous Liberal Party administration.<\/p>\n

It may be true that the Liberals turned a blind eye<\/a> to what was going on — or, worse, covered it up — but it appears the problem may have started on the NDP\u2019s watch as a direct result of NDP gambling reforms.<\/p>\n

We are all concerned for our safety, and we feel we need to document these activities for our own well-being,\u201d Labine wrote in her journal in August 1998. \u00a0\u201cWe feel the baccarat pit is getting out of hand and that the casino is ignoring our warnings \u2026 staff are becoming more aware of the gangs that are now working amongst us \u2026 supervisors are feeling intimidated and overwhelmed.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Authorities now believe Chinese criminal underground banks were able to exploit weak BC financial regulations to launder drug money. This was often made from the sale of narcotics shipped to Canada from South America and the fentanyl factories of China\u2019s Guangdong province. Money would be washed through BC\u2019s casinos and through the purchase of real estate in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

Disgruntled Employee?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

While Great Canadian Gaming simply said it \u201crefused to comment on employee matters\u201d when contacted by Global News<\/em>, Great Canadian\u2019s vice-president\u00a0at the time, Adrian Thomas, agreed to an interview.<\/p>\n

He said he had never had any indication loan sharks were laundering drug money and described Labine as a disgruntled and troublesome employee who was motivated to lie because she has been turned down for promotion.<\/p>\n

Labine says she fears being sued by Great Canadian but is speaking out because it is the \u201cright thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British Columbia has been rocked by financial scandal following revelations that its casinos had become \u201claundromats for organized crime\u201d over the past decade, with Chinese criminal gangs transforming the province into a global money-laundering hub with links to the fentanyl epidemic. But the scandal may go back further than a decade, to the late 1990s, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":104032,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,10,13],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBC Casino Money Laundering Exploded in the Late 1990s: Whistleblower<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"BC casino money laundering dates back to the late 1990s and to gaming reforms initiated by the NDP, according to a casino employee at the time.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BC Casino Money Laundering Exploded in the Late 1990s: Whistleblower\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"BC casino money laundering dates back to the late 1990s and to gaming reforms initiated by the NDP, according to a casino employee at the time.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-05-01T20:23:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/eby.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@casinoorgphilc\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Philip Conneller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/\",\"name\":\"BC Casino Money Laundering Exploded in the Late 1990s: Whistleblower\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/eby.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-05-01T20:23:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-05-01T20:23:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/58769b72851c8cf117fb58ca150ebf8b\"},\"description\":\"BC casino money laundering dates back to the late 1990s and to gaming reforms initiated by the NDP, according to a casino employee at the time.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/bc-casino-money-laundering-exploded-in-the-late-1990s-whistleblower\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/eby.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/eby.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"British Columbia\u2019s NGP attorney general David Eby pinned the blame for the casino money-laundering scandal on the previous administration, but there are suggestions the root cause of the problem may lie farther back, with his own party. 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