Silver International Investment and two individuals face charges of laundering dirty money through British Columbia (B.C.) casinos, and more precisely through River Rock Casino in Richmond. After a year-old casino report flagged money-laundering concerns, the newly-elected British Columbia government has hired an independent investigator to check the case. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), organized criminals used Silver International Investment as an illicit banking network to loan suspected drug cash to high-rollers from Macau. In that way, the criminals could skirt China’s strict anti-money laundering system and wash their dirty cash through B.C. casinos.
RCMP allege that they revealed a sophisticated money-laundering scheme, which was used to launder drug cash through B.C. casinos. RCMP’s Project E-Pirate probe reportedly found out that more than $500 million dirty money was laundered through Richmond’s River Rock Casino. The amount was split into portions of $1.5 million per day, paid mostly with $20 bills. As it can be recalled, some time ago the police have warned that $20 bills are among the most used bills by drug dealers. But the River Rock staff was prone to accept the unsourced cash and the gamblers were able to cash out with bills of $100, which are considered suitable for banking.
Caught Red-Handed
Various documents and reports, obtained by Postmedia through freedom of information requests, revealed that the criminals were using Silver International Investment as an illegal banking network to transfer money to send money to and fro. According to the RCMP’s report, criminals were lending drug cash to VIP gamblers from China through Silver International Investment. The VIP gamblers could pay back their loans in China through the illicit banking channel.
In that way, the criminals could avoid China’s capital control for exporting and importing funds, as well as to circumvent the attention of Canada’s financial watchdog. Here it is interesting to note that in a police special operation in 2015, more than $2 million in mostly $20 bills and account books were confiscated from Silver International’s office in Richmond. RCMP Insp. Bruce Ward announced that the information in Silver International’s account books point out that the company washed more than $220 million in cash through B.C. casinos in a year.
Caixuan Qin and Jian Jun Zhu will also face multiple fraud charges after police allege that Qin is the director of Silver International, which address is registered in an apartment in Richmond. The report alleges that Qin is not the owner of the apartment, but he owns a property in south Vancouver, estimated to worth $2.5 million. The two individuals together with Silver International Investment are charged with crimes including money laundering of drug cash, possession of a property, involved in a crime and others.
