Rich Coleman’s dismissal of money laundering warning was baseless: Mountie
Graeme Wood, 09 April 2021
RCMP’s failure to earmark adequate resources against financial crime was compounded by government officials downplaying problem, inquiry hears.
The senior Mountie in charge of a B.C. money laundering unit in January 2011 says he was “taken aback” by then minister of public safety and solicitor general Rich Coleman’s dismissal of his assessment of money laundering activity in government-regulated casinos.
Before the B.C. Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering, retired inspector Barry Baxter described Coleman’s well-publicized disagreement with the RCMP as not grounded in facts.
After CBC News published an RCMP-authorized interview with Baxter on January 4, 2011 – in which Baxter candidly outlined serious and evidence-based concerns of drug cash being washed through casinos – Coleman dismissed the claims to media.
