British Columbia Wants to Seize Alleged Casino Money Launderer’s $880K

Posted on: September 19, 2024, 07:00h. 

Last updated on: September 20, 2024, 09:17h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

Authorities in British Columbia have applied to seize CA$880K (US$650k) from an accused triad that’s suspected of laundering money through casinos in Canada, the CBC reports.

Tujie Lai, Money Laundering, River Rock Casino, British Columbia
Tujie Lai is alleged to have gambled extensively with cash at the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, British Columbia, above, in a way that was indicative of money laundering. (Image: Cvent)

Tujie Lai claims to have become a multimillionaire through the junket industry in Macau. He is wanted in mainland China for charges including kidnapping, extortion, and leading a criminal gang.

In 2018, Tujie was regularly gambling in the River Rock Casino in Richmond, British Columbia, in a way that was indicative of money laundering, according to BC’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit.

Bundles of Notes

Court documents show that Tujie bought $250K worth of casino chips in July 2017 and cashed out a total of $610K in Canadian currency during the same period.

In November 2018, he converted $20K in US currency, made up of two bundles of $100 bills, into chips at the River Rock. These were bound with elastic bands in a way that “was not consistent with standard banking practices,” the filings claimed.

In December 2019, Tujie turned up at the River Rock with CA$9.9K in 12 bundles of $20 and $50 bills, again bound with elastic bands. Since the reporting requirement for cash transactions at casinos was $10K, this was, again, highly indicative of money laundering, according to BC authorities.

At the time, River Rock was at the center of a money laundering epidemic in British Columbia that became a national scandal in Canada. From around 2010 onwards, an inadequacy of oversight at the province’s casinos allowed criminal gangs with links to the drug trade to launder hundreds of millions through VIP rooms.

Chinese high rollers were regularly lent money to gamble by underground banks to help them circumvent caps on the movement of money out of China. These funds, which were often mingled with drug money, would then be converted into casino chips and washed.

Border Flight

Tujie attempted to cross the US-Canadian border illegally in October 2019 before fleeing from the US Border Patrol back into Canada on foot, according to US authorities. He was subsequently detained by Royal Canadian Mounted Police and returned to US custody before being handed back to the Canada Border Security Agency (CBSA).

According to a filing to the BC Supreme Court Tuesday, Tujie’s wife paid the money authorities are asking to seize to the CBSA in October 2019 to secure her husband’s release.

At the time, Tujie was the subject of an Interpol red notice that accused him of several crimes, including extortion, assault, conspiracy, and perjury.