A spokesperson for Parq Vancouver told StarMetro she “can’t comment on specific customers” for privacy reasons but said that “Parq Vancouver is responsible for following all of the regulations set out by B.C. (Lotteries Corp). We follow these guidelines for every customer.”
The casino said in a Saturday post on its Instagram account it is “constantly improving our communications process to ensure that these new regulations are better understood by all guests … We are operating in one of the most complex, highly regulated industries and are always looking to better our communication and customer service.
“We categorically stand against racism of any kind.”
In a statement on its website, B.C. Lotteries Corporation says it requires reporting of any cash buy-in of $10,000 or more, including the customer’s identification and a bank receipt.
“All cash and bank draft/certified cheque buy-ins for $10,000 or more, in one or more transactions within a 24-hour period, will require a source of funds receipt,” the Crown corporation said. “The original receipt must be from the same day of the transaction and show the financial institution, branch number and account number.
“This information will be required before a customer is allowed to buy in.”
After Attorney General David Eby took office last year, he described being shown video footage of hundreds of thousands of dollars — in elastic-bound $20s — being dumped from duffel bags at casino teller wickets. He responded by ordering a report by former RCMP regional commissioner Peter German.
German’s bombshell report was titled Dirty Money. Compared to other jurisdictions, B.C. had allowed money laundering and organized criminal activity to flourish over a decade in its casinos, the report said, and the previous government had shuttered an anti-money-laundering enforcement unit despite insiders’ warnings about the problem.
As a result, Eby tabled and passed a revamp of B.C.’s casino legislation, including measures to force gaming businesses to flag all transactions over $10,000 to authorities and require them to prove where they got the cash on the same day.
And according to Eby on Monday, the new laws have worked, causing a “remarkable and sharp decline in suspicious transactions,” adding there’s been a “reduction of about 100 times from the peak of suspicious cash transactions.”
For that reason, Eby said, there can be no exceptions regarding disclosure.
B.C.’s rules are by no means unique. Had Drake or any celebrity walked into, say, a Las Vegas casino owned by Parq’s operator, Paragon Gaming, he would have discovered a tight net of laws and regulations also govern cash transactions there.
German visited Las Vegas, the hub of gaming on the continent, and met with enforcement officials and regulators there. His recommendations were largely inspired by Nevada’s model, including encouraging alternatives to cash and requiring identification and detailed record-keeping on large transactions.
“I hypothesized that a box of cash arrived with rubber bands at a cash cage,” German wrote about his meetings with Las Vegas’ deputy chief of the enforcement division and a casino investigator. “What would occur? The officers doubted that this would occur in Las Vegas.”
According to the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (the equivalent of Canada’s FinTRAC), “a casino is required to file a (Currency Transaction Report by Casinos) on currency transactions by or on behalf of any customer that, alone or when aggregated, exceed $10,000 in a gaming day.”
The same law applies to poker players buying in with “more than $10,000 in chips with currency, in a single transaction or a series of related transactions in the same gaming day.”
Violations in the U.S. could cost a casino $25,000 every day of the violation occurring, up to $100,000 per violation.
Drizzy has said nothing beyond his call-out on Instagram. But in his song “Diplomatic Immunity,” released on Jan. 19, he sings about a previous incident at a casino in Detroit:
“I refuse to comply with regulations … Motor City Casino, I’m at the cage with my old licence. They tell me, ‘Don’t worry, I got your money.’”
With files from The Canadian Press
David P. Ball is a Vancouver-based reporter covering democracy and politics. Follow him on Twitter: @davidpball