January 10th, 2011 – by Glen Farmer
Gambling regulation is in place to prevent crime from taking place in casinos, as well as to collect tax revenue from said casinos. In British Colombia, casino crime is on its way to hills, as the minister in charge of gambling is aiming to strengthen regulations that would prevent money laundering in the region.
Solicitor General Rich Coleman stated that the province has been “actively engaged” with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police since the previous summer to begin building legislation that would prevent organized crime businesses from using the casinos to launder money.
An example of money laundering through these casinos would include a patsy entering the building with dirty money, buying chips, engaging in a small amount of gambling, followed by cashing in the chips for now clean money.
Coleman has been preparing casino staff through enhancement training in order to make staff more able “to properly identify suspicious transactions are report them more quickly to police.”
British Colombian casinos would also have to prevent suspicious patrons from redeeming casino chips, as well as make it so chips can only be redeemed in the facility in which they were first purchased.