B.C. casino investigators probed real estate lawyers whom they had connected to private mortgages, organized crime and an alleged transnational money-laundering scheme, the province’s inquiry has heard.
In testimony Tuesday at the Cullen Commission, Brad Rudnicki, a BC Lottery Corporation anti-money laundering intelligence specialist, said his investigations suggested foreign high rollers could have been buying Metro Vancouver homes through loan sharks in the same way they were buying casino chips.
This is the so-called “Vancouver Model” of money laundering, in which transnational organized crime suspects Kwok Chung Tam and Paul King Jin are accused of laundering drug cash by lending it to wealthy visitors from China, according to previous testimony.
A day earlier, the inquiry heard from an RCMP investigator who has alleged Jin and a Richmond currency exchange were operating as a drug trafficking organization by laundering cash for drug dealers in China, Latin America and Canada.
Story continues below advertisement
The RCMP alleged Jin’s China-based underground banking organization allegedly laundered funds by lending cash for casino chip purchases to visitors from China, who often secured these loans with private mortgages or promissory notes on their Vancouver properties. Charges against Jin were stayed in 2018, and results of a related RCMP investigation into Jin’s network are unknown, the inquiry heard. Both Tam and Jin deny they are organized-crime loan sharks.
Rudnicki testified that his team started to look at real estate lending and property ownership connected to Tam and Jin’s casino lending network in 2015. Both men were banned from B.C. casinos for five years, the inquiry heard, for various reasons. Rudnicki’s investigators noticed that high rollers in the Chinese network often took private mortgage loans from Jin, Tam and others.
2:38 Whistleblower defends testimony at gambling inquiry
Whistleblower defends testimony at gambling inquiry – Nov 18, 2020
He said he found gamblers could buy and renovate Metro Vancouver homes with loans from casino loan sharks, and then sell them soon after for millions in profit. And this could launder money in Canada for both the lenders and buyers, he said.
“You could almost replace ‘casino’ with ‘house,’” Rudnicki said. “How these loans are paid back — it is very similar to the model of the players borrowing funds in the casino. (The loan) could be paid back overseas or in town.”
He said his team also looked at suspicious gamblers who listed their occupations as “student” or “housewife” but bet large amounts of money because it suggested they were connected to high rollers with hidden sources of wealth. This same relationship seemed to hold up in the real estate purchases by students and housewives, he added.
“When we researched these players, we would find them attached to multi-million-dollar houses, and we could link them to another player in the database (who) wouldn’t be listed on land titles.”
These hidden high rollers were often connected to foreign companies and were believed to be relatives of the spouses or children fronting real estate and casino chip purchases, he said.
Another pattern Rudnicki found related to Tam, Jin and others was lawyers who would register private mortgage lending contracts in B.C.
Rudnicki pointed to one unidentified lawyer who was known to be facing a Law Society of B.C. investigation after 2015.
Story continues below advertisement
“It could be unusual that private mortgages are being loaned from people linked to organized crime, and a lawyer was registering the mortgage,” he testified.
“And the lawyer in this case had an investigation ongoing. So there was adverse media, (so casino investigators thought) perhaps this lawyer is being utilized for their ability to register private mortgages.”
2:29 Cullen Commission told warnings about casinos ignored
Cullen Commission told warnings about casinos ignored – Nov 9, 2020
In another case, an unidentified lawyer was linked to a property with eight residents, many of whom listed occupations in Chinese hospitals, which seemed unusual, Rudnicki said. The property owner was connected to a number of real estate lending cases and three banned Lottery Corp. patrons, including Tam and Jin, the inquiry heard.
Rudnicki said his data didn’t prove wrongdoing on the part of lawyers connected to mortgages originated by gang suspects, but that it suggested further investigation was warranted.
Story continues below advertisement
The commission’s mandate is to determine whether corruption or other issues allowed drug money laundering to take root in B.C. casinos and real estate.
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
