Pubdate: Mon, 08 Apr 2013
Source: Province, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2013 Postmedia Network Inc.
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/letters.html
Website: http://www.theprovince.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/476
Author: Kent Spencer

CRIME FIGHTER EYES MONEY LAUNDERING

Veteran Crime Fighter Helps Set Up Group of Local Specialists to 
Battle Money Laundering

Veteran crime fighter Garry Clement says the story of money 
laundering in the world today is one of "greed triumphing over ethics."

The former RCMP investigator has brought his expertise to Vancouver 
to institute a local chapter of the Association of Certified 
Anti-Money Laundering Specialists, an organization with thousands of 
members worldwide.

"This was about creating something in Vancouver's backyard, a place 
where problems can be talked about and public-private networks 
created," said Clement, who owns an Ontario based company called the 
Clement Advisory Group.

The conference, which was attended by 65 people, explored ways to 
prevent money laundering, close loopholes and impose tougher penalties.

"The only way we will ever get a handle on this is our ability to 
work together," he said.

He said money laundering literally means turning dirty, criminally 
generated funds into legitimate cash by flushing it through the 
mainstream economy.

Crimes range from something as innocuous as paying a tradesman in 
cash (to cheat the taxman), to allowing millions in funding for 
terrorists to flow electronically around the world.

Clement said casinos are a favourite target. One technique used to 
convert small amounts is called "smurfing."

"I would collect a group of people and give them each less than 
$10,000 in cash. They would buy chits and gamble over 24 hours, 
keeping their losses to 10 per cent. At the end of it, they would 
pass the chits back to me and I would come out with a cashier's 
cheque for a large amount," he said.

"It's difficult to police because casinos find it hard to keep track 
of how much money is bouncing around the slot machines."

Casinos, meanwhile, say safeguards are set up to prevent such 
transactions from taking place.

"It can't happen under the rules in place. You can't just pretend to 
play, not with the amount of surveillance we have here," said Howard 
Blank, spokesman for Great Canadian Casino.

Clement said too much focus in B.C. is given to the cash generated 
from the hydroponic marijuana industry.

Drug profits are "co-mingled" with legitimately owned businesses such 
as pizza parlours and corner stores.

"The businesses might generate $50,000 legitimate cash each week and 
$100,00 worth of drug assets are poured in," he said. "The money has 
been legitimized."

Clement was employed by the RCMP for several decades. His high 
profile cases included undercover work at the Penthouse Cabaret in 
the 1980s, and a notorious international tobacco-smuggling case, 
which included 22,500 cartons of cigarettes brought to a Richmond 
warehouse in 1996.

He said one significant problem that doesn't receive enough attention 
is Internet fraud.

He knows of a case where two lonely widows joined an Internet dating 
site and were bilked out of $1.6 million by "someone I'll loosely 
call a gentleman."

"These sites ... allow predators to go after people. They should be 
shut down," he said.

Sometimes, department store gift cards are bought in cash and then 
resold at a discount, he said.

Several high-profile cases have occurred recently:

Insp. Barry Baxter, head of the B.C. RCMP's proceeds-of-crime 
section, said in 2011 that B.C. casinos were failing to flag large 
cash transactions as suspicious, making the fight against money 
laundering more difficult.

Baxter said in one case someone bought $250,000 in chips with $20 
bills and the casino only reported it as a large transaction, not as 
a suspicious one, as it should have been.

One type of illegal transaction involves coming into Canada with 
undeclared cash.

Canadian customs agents at Vancouver airport seized $15 million 
undeclared cash in fiscal 2011-12, tops in the country. Most of it 
came from China, where the wealthy are trying to smuggle their 
fortunes out of the country.
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