Two reports on money laundering have been delivered to the government of British Columbia and will be made public in the coming months.
The reports were commissioned last fall in response to concern about money laundering in the province, including through real estate transactions.
The first report is to the Minister of Finance from the Expert Panel on Money Laundering, and recommends rule changes that will shut loopholes in the real estate market and increase transparency on who owns property in B.C.
The second report is Peter German’s second review into money laundering, focusing on real estate, luxury cars and horse racing.
“Money laundering is a serious problem in our real estate market and this kind of activity has no place in our province,” said Carole James, Minister of Finance. “Our real estate market should be used for housing people, not for laundering the proceeds of crime. That’s why we asked our expert panel to review our rules and regulations, and to offer concrete actions that we can take to clean up our real estate sector.”
Organized crime
Attorney General David Eby added that money laundering apparently links with organized crime, the opioid crisis, and the housing market.
“Peter German’s first report made it clear that while money laundering was a significant problem in our casinos, there was also troubling evidence that the criminal economy was growing elsewhere in British Columbia,” he said.
