麻豆传媒映画police have identified a gap in the record-keeping and sale of high-end boats to people tied to organized crime in the city.
Deputy Chief Laurence Rankin said the information has been supplied to Crown counsel acting on behalf of government in the Cullen Commission of Inquiry to Money Laundering, which began Monday.
鈥淲e鈥檝e identified a number of individuals with ties to organized crime that possess pleasure craft operator cards who were operating marine vessels with significant value, but those vessels weren鈥檛 registered to them,鈥� Rankin told the 麻豆传媒映画Police Board Feb. 20.
鈥淪o based on that information, we believe it reveals gaps in the record keeping for the sale and purchase of marine vehicles, and that may require and benefit from a review of regulatory processes that exist at this time.鈥�
Rankin said police reviewed 10 years of investigations in 麻豆传媒映画involving 鈥渟ubstantive criminal offences鈥� that had a nexus to money laundering. That research led police to submit 42 files to the inquiry.
The department was asked for follow-up on 29 of those 42 files and given a further request from government lawyers for information on high-end marine vessels in Vancouver.
Meanwhile, Rankin said police continue to work with the City of 麻豆传媒映画on anti-money laundering measures that will be revealed in a report expected to go before city council in March.
The report will look at ways to enhance the working relationship between the VPD and the City of 麻豆传媒映画through a number of initiatives, including enhanced financial reporting, Rankin said.
鈥淪o more stringent financial reporting in the area of property ownership, in particular real estate procurement,鈥� he said, noting police have also helped develop bylaws that regulate the use of cryptocurrency automatic teller machines and money service businesses.
Police believe cryptocurrency, in particular, is money laundering. A VPD report published in February 2019 said there had been 70 cryptocurrency files reported to 麻豆传媒映画police in just two months.
鈥淭his trend is alarming and should get the attention of every police leader and police board across Canada, as well as the Canadian government,鈥� said the report, which went before the police board last year.
鈥淭he alarming rise in cryptocurrency files is primarily due to the way Bitcoin has been adopted by fraudsters as the instrument of choice to transfer funds.鈥�
The report said unregulated bitcoin automatic teller machines are 鈥渁n ideal money laundering vehicle.鈥� Since there are no requirements to register customer details, 鈥渋t is easy to see how cash can be transferred into bitcoin and vice-versa.鈥�
鈥淎 user can also launder an unlimited amount of money using smaller transactions so as not to arouse suspicion, like they would at a regular bank,鈥� the report said
鈥淭his becomes even easier if a criminal group were to purchase an ATM for a few thousand dollars and put all their cash through that one ATM, laundering the money as many times as required and either profit from or eliminate the transaction fee.鈥�
The issue of money laundering attracted the attention of 麻豆传媒映画city council in January 2019 when two councillors said citizens and reusable shopping bags into city hall to pay taxes.
That same month, the City of 麻豆传媒映画announced it would cash payments of more than $10,000 from people paying bills in an effort to prevent or deter potential money laundering.
The city said $10,000 is the limit that aligns with the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) reporting requirements for identifying and tracking money laundering.
In May 2019, Peter German 鈥� the聽 author of two reports that detailed the extent of money laundering in B.C. 鈥� the city consider creating an anti-money laundering committee to review its financial operations.
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