Charges laid in British Columbia money laundering case

It has been confirmed that the prosecution service of Canada laid charges in the BCLC money laundering case.

The Public Prosecution Service of Canada confirmed earlier today that charges have been laid against Silver International Investments Ltd, Jian Jun Zhu and Caixuan Qin in relation to Project E-Pirate.

Nathalie House, spokeswoman for the Public Prosecution Service of Canada, revealed that the criminal charges against Silver International Investment were laid after the alleged involvement in money laundering through a money-transfer business that had ties to underground banking, and used drug cash to fund Chinese VIP gamblers in British Columbia casinos, local media reported.

RCMP and BC government documents revealed that organised criminals used Silver as an illegal bank to clean drug money, and that a network in Richmond lent cash from the facility to VIP gamblers that were recruited from China, who also visited BC for gambling junkets and received bags of cash.

The government believes that the loans gave gamblers the opportunity to get money in Canada and mock China’s export controls, and then pay back the money loan through underground banks in China. An audit by BC’s gaming enforcement policy branch said that the VIPs bought betting chips with $20 bills and cashed them out with $100 bills, mainly at River Rock Casino.

The accused will appear for the first time in a provincial court in Richmond on October 30. The Canada Revenue Agency is involved in the ongoing investigation, spokeswoman Heidi Hofstad confirmed: “These cases are complex and require months or years to complete. The time it will take will depend on … the number of individuals involved, the availability of information or evidence, cooperation or lack thereof of witnesses or the accused.”