Hidden FINTRAC Money-Laundering Report Could Have Prevented Disaster, Attorney-General Says

Money-laundering is a topic that raises both concerns and suspicion, especially in relation to casino venues across British Columbia that had allegedly enabled the practice to continue for years on end. British Columbia Attorney-General David Eby recently stated that it is unfortunate that a 154-page Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada draft report inspecting the issue was never publicly issued.

Looking into the problematic nature of laundering dirty cash and the possibility that suspicious transactions within casino venues in British Columbia have sparked interest and reports across the province. However, efforts in this direction could be traced back to 2014 and even further back when signals about suspicious amounts of cash located in casino venues.

Work on Obscure Report Began in 2014

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada commonly referred to as FinTRAC also took steps in this direction, but never made it far. The research on potential money-laundering happened in 2014, pointing out the weak spots in the local gambling, banking, and housing sectors among others. As it turned out, the report was never finished, as the person taking care of it was appointed elsewhere, as supposedly there were more important tasks.

Such extensive analysis was inevitably going to shed more light on what could be improved across those British Columbia sectors. It was supposed to swell to even larger research in time, but even at that stage, it highlighted some serious shortfalls of as many as 11 sectors. These deficiencies made them prone to attracting dirty cash and individuals taking advantage of the situation.

Among the concerns that emerged within the range of this probe was the existing rules about reporting transactions that might raise suspicions and the overall compliance with those. The real estate field was identified as a potential target for money-laundering crimes, even though it had been previously estimated as a field safe from such activities. Local casino sector was also pinpointed as a high-risk ground that should be monitored closely.

Attorney-General David Eby Suspects There is Agenda

When all was said and done, this report had the potential to bring more attention to the issues observed back in 2014 and take action in this direction. Attorney-General Eby also brought the attention to this unissued report in a recent statement, pointing out that he is disappointed that FinTRAC never managed to issue it. He claimed that the then-Government could have been notified about the issue early on before it reached billions of Canadian dollars.

Canadian watchdog could have been informed about the issue with the extensive report, subsequently preventing the crisis from swelling to its current scale. Mr. Eby is concerned by the prospect of individuals on leading positions purposefully turning a deaf ear to obvious signals of criminal activity. What should be considered is that the analysis is in its draft form, which means that its accuracy has not been confirmed.

Ottawa-based researcher Ken Rubin interested in revealing more about the criminal activity and what led to its monstrous proportions demanded answers and more information for the past nearly three years and eventually managed to obtain the report from FinTRAC. The agency stated that their employee whose identity remains anonymous had worked on this report in order to expand their own perspective on potential issues.