Despite reports of alleged money laundering at River Rock Casino and Resort, Mayor Malcolm Brodie does not believe the city should necessarily increase its policing budget for the facility.
“I don’t think we would draw a straight line between the issues they (River Rock) have been dealing with and our budget. We’ll be looking at a more overall situation to see what operational support (police services) we need,” said Brodie.
Each year, city hall receives 10 per cent of net gaming revenues from River Rock as part of a hosting agreement with B.C. Lottery Corporation (BCLC). When the casino became fully operational in 2004, council resolved to fund an additional four police officers. At the time, the extra enforcement was considered necessary to curb street crime around the casino. There was, and remains, no mention of money laundering, which according to Postmedia reports, poses a danger to public safety.
When asked if he thought the city ought to contribute more to policing that would specifically address anti-money laundering efforts, Brodie said no, adding that it’s not a given that more policing is required if more gaming is occurring.
Moreover, Brodie noted anti-money laundering enforcement is provincially funded. And, it is also an extension of the federal government.
In 2004, the city received $7.5 million from the casino. Between 2005 and 2010 the city received about $12 million per year. But by 2014, that number jumped to $20.1 million. Meanwhile, the city continues to fund just four additional officers for the casino, at an annual cost of $700,000.
“Policing has many components. There are lots of different aspects to it. Just because you get more money from River Rock does not mean it’s directly linked to the amount of money that goes into policing the community,” explained Brodie.
Over the past two weeks, Postmedia uncovered an extensive RCMP investigation into alleged money laundering at River Rock. There was a reported spike in suspicious transaction reports by BCLC to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) after 2010, when there were 491 such reports. By 2014, there were 1,737 suspicious transactions, which accounted for 10 per cent of total gambling revenues in all B.C. casinos.
The media report also shows Richmond being implicated in an underground banking network that lends suspected, illegal drug cash to high-rolling Chinese gamblers recruited from Macau, who “with troubling ease,” according to the report, use the money to buy chips, and “wash” the proceeds of crime.
