‘Never occurred to me’: Eby on having no federal RCMP on money laundering
Posted April 9, 2019 1:07 pm.
Last Updated April 9, 2019 1:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – He just didn’t know: Just one day after a shocking report into money laundering in B.C. came out, the province’s attorney general says he was stunned to learn the federal government didn’t even have one dedicated officer looking into the issue.
“I have to admit it never occurred to me that there might be zero federal officers on this file,” David Eby said in Victoria on Tuesday.
He says he will be talking with the federal minister responsible — Bill Blair — who he just met with in Victoria last month.
RELATED: Money laundering report finds no federal Mounties dedicated to B.C. investigations
Eby says leaving these jobs vacant leaves a massive gap.
“There are 26 federally funded positions. These positions are supposed to be tasked with doing anti-money laundering investigations, looking at the information coming into FINTRAC — the anti-money laundering agency.”
RELATED: RCMP faces ‘significant challenges’ in money laundering fight: deputy commissioner
The revelation came in a provincially commissioned report by former RCMP officer Peter German.
German found that of the more than two dozen positions supposed to be filled, only about five are staffed.
Eby has called on the federal government to immediately allocate resources recently promised in the budget to tackle money laundering in B.C., as well as build an experienced team to work on the issue quickly.
