Thread by @JohnHua

The @CullenInquiryBC has 2 witnesses slated for today. Former GPEB Investigator Rob Barber and MURIEL LABINE, former Great Canadian Dealer Supervisor and whistleblower to @GlobalBC. Watch Labine's "Casino Diaries" an exclusive by @scoopercooper and myself.
globalnews.ca/video/5229769/…

I strongly believe Labine's brave account of gangsters taking over the Richmond casino in the early days of gaming in BC was a key reason the @bcndp government ended up calling for the @CullenInquiryBC to be established. @GlobalBC @BC1 @scoopercooper

Labine said when @bcndp government decided at the time to increase betting limits & extent hours in BC casinos, that's when gangsters arrived. @richardzussman brought allegations to Victoria and was told BC was worried about competition from Washington. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Here we go. Former GPEB Investigator Rob Barber is now being sworn in with the @CullenInquiryBC. @GlobaclBC @BC1 @CKNW

Rob Barber was a former @VancouverPD officer who was on Asian organized Crime and Drug squads. He joined GPEB in 2010 and was assigned to the @riverrockcasino until his retirement. Like Ackles he was not on-site. GPEB didn't have the resources. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC as Ackles did that GPEB didn't offer any training to new hires due to budget constraints. They hired with expectation that they would bring experience with them. @GlobalBC

Barber tells the @CullenInquiryBC when he started at GPEB assigned to the @riverrockcasino he identified money laundering as the main issue from the very beginning. @GlobalBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC that he saw himself as a regulator for the gaming industry. Barber said he was surprised he wasn't able direct service providers and @BCLC what to do. @GlobalBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC years after he started @BCLC would later state that GPEB was not their regulator. @GlobalBC

Barber said he thought GPEB investigators had more power when reading the gaming control act, especially when it came to interactions where people were being polite but not adhering to his directions. He said he was told differently. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

Barber is as a GPEB Investigator he told Great Canadian that he had concerns about not reporting under a $50k threshold. He tells the @CullenInquiryBC it was his understanding the service provider took direction from @BCLC not GPEB on this. @GlobalBC

Barber said @BCLC was ignoring GPEB directives stating the it was not the regulator and was willing to prepare a legal challenge. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber tells the @CullenInquiryBC it took him a week on the job with GPEB to identify the concerning pattern of suspicious cash transactions coming into the @riverrockscasino. @GlobalBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC in 2010 when he started with GPEB buy-ins were around $50-100k and ramped up during his tenure. He says he believed right away it was organized crime laundering money through BC casinos from the drug trade. @GlobalBC

Barber said his experience as a police officer made him believe the suspicious cash was tied to the drug trade. He tells the @CullenInquiryBC that he did raise those concerns to his superiors at GPEB. @GlobalBC

Barber is also telling @CullenInquiryBC that GPEB reports were based on and very similar to those from @BCLC. Barber said he doesn't like it but there's truth in the statement GPEB would "report on the reports". @GlobalBC

Barber tells the @CullenInquiryBC once he included his opinion in a report of findings that he strongly believed the suspicious cash was tied to organized and money laundering. He was told by his GPEB supervisor to take out personal opinions and re-write the report. @GlobalBC

Barber tells the @CullenInquiryBC he did not feel that he or any of his GPEB colleagues were having an impact stopping the flow of suspicious cash transactions from entering BC casinos. @GlobalBC

Barber tells the @CullenInquiryBC he had a conversation with Patrick Ennis from Great Canadian who said if the service provider got a letter from BC Government to stop taking the money they likely would. He took it as there was some concern cash was illicit. @GlobalBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC that in many cases GPEB did little more than report on suspicious cash transactions. @GlobalBC

Barber said he disagreed with Ackles earlier testimony that GPEB Special Constables didn't have status to investigate proceeds of crime and money laundering. He said it was an issue of financial constraints and resources. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber said if he had the resources or GPEB mandate to pursue investigations like phone records, he would have been a much better help to law enforcement. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber tells the @CullenInquiryBC that before JIGIT was formed in 2016. GPEB Investigators had no part in the actual investigation of money laundering in BC casinos. @GlobalBC

Barber said fellow GPEB investigators were heading to Victoria to bring up the issue of money laundering, can't recall who the meeting was with at the time. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC that he tried to tell his superior about his concerns about money laundering in BC casinos, he said GPEB GM Doug Scott looked him in the eye and walked around him without saying a word. @GlobalBC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC that he perceived @BCLC Investigators to be frustrated with their management. Filed countless reports yet no action was taken. Same thing with GEPB. @GlobalBC

Barber said GPEB's Doug Scott asked Cheryl Wenezenki-Yolland the BC Associate Deputy Minister of Finance to support GPEB to support him in his struggles with @BCLC. Wenezenki-Yolland said it was up to him to deal with it. @GlobalBC

Barber said his primary goal as a GPEB investigator was to eliminate money laundering in casinos. He tells the @CullenInquiryBC GPEB was not effective in doing so during his tenure. @GlobalBC

Barber is now answering questions from @BCLC's lawyer. He tells @CullenInquiryBC he was frustrated during his time at GPEB and was quite unhappy when he left. @BCLC

Barber tells @CullenInquiryBC it is HIS assumption that Schalk and Vander Graff were terminated from GPEB because they were reporting large cash transactions. @GlobalBC

.@BCLC's lawyer is pointing out that there was an issue with GPEB reports by Schalk that included strong language. @GlobalBC

Barber said he believed that @BCLC investigators were doing the best he could, but he had less faith in their superiors. @GlobalBC

Barber is now being cross-examined by GCGC lawyer Mark Skwarok. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

Barber says the very first time he entered a Great Canadian surveillance room to be introduced as a GPEB investigator a heated argument broke out when concerns about criminal money laundering was raised. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

GCGC's lawyer is now stating that Great Canadians' Patrick Ennis might have had suspicions of cash buy-ins but had no proof it was proceeds of crime. Barber agrees. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

When GCGC's lawyer suggests to Barber that @riverrockcasino management put compliance above profit, Barber disagreed. He said his belief was the entire industry was predicated on bringing as much money in "devil may care how." @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber is telling Lightbody's lawyer that while it was his opinion right away that money laundering was occuring in BC casinos all the indicators now. He's being challenged that he didn't have proof of this. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber argues the basis of his opinion is backed up by the fact we're having a @CullenInquiryBC in the first place. @GlobalBC

Kroeker's lawyer is asking Barber about whether the copy and pasted from @BCLC reports as was disclosed by Ackles. Barber insists he never once copy and paste reports. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

Kroeker's lawyer asking Barber about perception that GPEB was just a gig for retired cops. She asks if that's because GPEB investigators didn't take much action. He disagrees with that. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Barber is being asked about @BCLC challenging GPEB's regulatory authority. Kroeker's lawyer is suggesting that the ADM at the time, John Mazure, was trying to relinquish authority. Barber said he has no knowledge of this. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

When Kroeker's lawyer asked Barber whether it's his opinion @BCLC should have dealth with the suspicious cash directly, Barber said he believes it should have been up to provincial cabinet. @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

The @CullenInquiryBC is getting set up to being testimony with Muriel Labine, former Great Canadian dealer supervisor at the Richmond Casino in the late 90s. @GlobalBC

Labine's image is not being obsured before the @CullenInquiryBC. She started with Great Canadian at the Richmond Casino. @GlobalBC

Labine tells @CullenInquiryBC that in 1997 everything changed including higher betting limits and extended hours. Two new games Pai-Gow and Mini Baccarat. @GlobalBC

Labine is telling the @CullenInquiryBC about a presence of asian gangsters they called "the boys". It was because they were younger, but their bosses were older men. They were loaning money to other players. @GlobalBC

Labine tells the @CullenInquiryBC that "the boys" didn't hide it. They were lending out money openly. @GlobalBC

Labine tells the @CullenInquiryBC that both her and her daughter counted suspected loansharks once and it there were 23 in the casino at one time. @GlobalBC

Labine tells the @CullenInquiryBC that she used to work at a bank and the money that was coming into the casino did not to appear to be packaged in the same way. @GlobalBC

Labine said casino staff were being told by Great Canadian management that they were just friends loaning money to friends. She said "you know what you were seeing." @CullenInquiryBC @GlobalBC

Labine tells @CullenInquiryBC not once did casino management take steps to stop this suspicious money lending. @GlobalBC

Labine tells the @CullenInquiryBC that she was afraid to report this to police because she had to leave her name. They did make anonymous calls to @RichmondRCMP. @GlobalBC

Labine is now telling the @CullenInquiryBC about the casino diaries. A journal of what staff were seeing because no one was listening to their concerns at the time. @GlobalBC

Labine is now being questioned by GCGC's lawyer Mark Skwarok. She's being asked about her testimony about time more than 20 years ago. @GlobalBC @CullenInquiryBC

Labine tells @CullenInquiryBC she was threatened by former Richmond Casino VP Adrian Thomas. On a call with @scoopercooper, thomas had threatened a lawsuit against Labine. @GlobalBC