Quebec casinos and gaming halls are still easy targets for organized crime, with millions of dollars in dirty money likely being funnelled through the government-run venues, experts warn.
According to Loto-Québec data obtained by CBC/Radio-Canada, the provincially owned corporation reported nearly $420 million in large cash transactions to Canada’s anti-money laundering watchdog over the past six years.
Criminals often use casinos as their playground, both as a place of entertainment and as a “place [where] they launder their money,” said Matt McGuire, an internationally recognized money-laundering expert.
Although it’s impossible to know the ratio of legitimate transactions to unlawful ones, McGuire said it’s a “virtual certainty” a portion of the cash used in casinos is linked to organized crime networks, which profit from illegal activities such as drug and human trafficking.
