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

• Gambling News
• 19 September 2024

Officials in British Columbia have requested to confiscate CA$880K (US$650k) from a suspected triad believed to be involved in laundering money through Canadian casinos, according to the CBC. 

Tujie Lai asserts that he has achieved multimillionaire status through the junket business in Macau. He is sought in mainland China for offenses such as kidnapping, extortion, and heading a criminal organization. 

In 2018, Tujie was frequently gambling at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, British Columbia, in a manner that suggested money laundering, as reported by BC’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. 

Bunches of Currency 

Court records reveal that Tujie acquired $250K in casino chips in July 2017 and exchanged a total of $610K in Canadian money throughout that time. 

In November 2018, he exchanged $20K in US cash, consisting of two stacks of $100 bills, for chips at the River Rock. The filings alleged that these were secured with elastic bands in a manner “not aligned with standard banking practices.” 

In December 2019, Tujie arrived at the River Rock with CA$9.9K packed in 12 bundles of $20 and $50 notes, once more secured with elastic bands. According to BC authorities, the $10K reporting requirement for cash transactions at casinos strongly indicated money laundering. 

At that moment, River Rock was at the heart of a money laundering crisis in British Columbia that turned into a national scandal in Canada. Starting around 2010, a lack of regulation at the province's casinos permitted criminal organizations tied to the drug trade to launder hundreds of millions via VIP areas. 

Underground banks frequently provided loans to Chinese high rollers for gambling, aiding them in bypassing restrictions on the transfer of funds out of China. These funds, frequently mixed with drug money, would subsequently be transformed into casino chips and laundered. 

Crossing Flight 

According to US authorities, Tujie tried to cross the US-Canadian border unlawfully in October 2019 before escaping from the US Border Patrol back into Canada on foot. He was later arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and returned to US authorities before being transferred back to the Canada Border Security Agency (CBSA). 

A filing to the BC Supreme Court on Tuesday indicates that Tujie’s wife paid the sum that authorities now wish to confiscate to the CBSA in October 2019 to obtain her husband's release. 

At that moment, Tujie was under an Interpol red notice that charged him with multiple offenses, such as extortion, assault, conspiracy, and perjury.