Tweet

Sam Cooper

3 Feb, 13 tweets, 3 min read

Hearing about sexual assault at River Rock Casino by a VIP player on a female staff, and BCLC Ross Alderson writes a report that GCG manager Pat Ennis felt BCLC had no authority to interfere, and that GCG didn't call police, and VIP was allowed to continue play; and GCG

2. VIP program manager Lisa Gao acted inappropriately. The VIP had assaulted another River Rock employee too. Alderson wrote the staff sexually assaulted by the VIP didn't get any support from Great Canadian.

@CullenInquiryBC

3. @CullenInquiryBC quickly jumped to a question back in 1999 regarding "China's most wanted" LAI Changxing. Ennis says he's not sure if Great Canadian allowed LAI to continue playing, despite reports in media LAI is criminal suspect.

@CullenInquiryBC

4. @CullenInquiryBC lawyer seeks to introduce an evidentiary document to question Ennis, regarding Alderson's report, and Great Canadian's lawyer jumps in and objects, says Alderson's credibility is in doubt.

5. Ennis had testified there was a concern about having RCMP in River Rock VIP room. He said in Asian culture it would not be welcomed to have police watching players bet, and GCG didn't want VIPs to 'lose face.'

6. There was also testimony about Alderson and Pat Ennis clashing over River Rock VIP interviews. Another BCLC investigator indicated Ennis was angry on a phone call involving BCLC and GCG. Ennis says he doesn't get angry on the phone. Ennis acknowledges that revenue loss was

7. a concern for River Rock Casino when VIPs were interviewed. Ennis says he never pushed back on VIP interviews in totality, but he wanted to be sure that VIPs didn't 'lose face' because according to Ennis it was frowned upon in Asian culture to be questioned in front of others.

8. The VIP hostess Lia Gao was eventually de-registered by GPEB because she allegedly facilitated a $200k transaction for a VIP barred by BCLC. She helped a gofer for the banned VIP buy the 200k in chips, and that is against Fintrac's anti-money laundering rules.

9. Global News previously investigated the River Rock VIP host manager's alleged involvement in the River Rock staff assault cases involving River Rock high-limit player globalnews.ca/news/4394252/b…

10 . A VIP gambler allegedly became intoxicated in the company of a VIP employee, sources said, and the VIP assaulted another female employee.

@BCLC

11. Sounds like this statement that @BCLC managed Great Canadian Gaming provided me for my investigative story on this incident, is in doubt, according to Ross Alderson 2016 report.

'While such incidents are rare at our facilities, we take them extremely seriously.”

12. The statement says that Great Canadian took “immediate action” including contacting BCLC and providing evidence requested by the RCMP.

There are allegations of Big Circle Boys VIP gamblers threatening or harassing staff in the Richmond casino that pre-dated River Rock Casino. Evidence that staff feared for their safety and management sided with reputed gang bosses. This came out of the Muriel Labine story.

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More from @scoopercooper

Sam Cooper

@scoopercooper

2 Feb

Top BC Lottery Corp. executives disagreed on province’s suspicious-cash directive, inquiry hears globalnews.ca/news/7614773/b… (And BCLC alternative cash theories vs ‘confirmation bias’)

1 During his cross-examination Tuesday, Desmarais was accused by B.C. government lawyer Jacqueline Hughes of downplaying the branch’s money-laundering concerns and constructing alternative theories to justify mysterious cash transactions that came predominantly from Chinese VIPs.

2. Hughes told the inquiry that Lightbody wrote back: “I completely agree with all your comments … I would suggest … reposition (the) document around misperception of money laundering.”

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Sam Cooper

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B.C. casino bosses complained that drug-trafficking probes were hurting business: inquiry | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/7612942/b…

2. “We are acutely aware of the revenue implications for both of us,” Brad Desmarais emailed to Michael Graydon, the inquiry heard. Desmarais said he was “pressing” B.C.’s casino regulator to disrupt illegal casinos where the high rollers may have taken their business.

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Sam Cooper

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Jim Lightbody: "To be told in the media by our minister (Eby) that we were wilfully blind (and to read in media) our employees were turning the other way" ... Lightbody says he regrets not being able to respond. .. Rod Baker called me in September 2015 and he was angry

that our BCLC investigators were interviewing Rod Baker's River Rock Casino VIPs and scaring business away. Lightbody claims he responded with an email to Baker and said "no" BCLC won't stop interviewing River Rock VIPs. "I believe that is the last contact" Lightbody + Baker had

@CullenInquiryBC

The evidence we've heard is BCLC investigators were told in 2012 not to interview River Rock VIPs after Rod Baker complained to BCLC brass. Lightbody was not asked by @CullenInquiryBC if that was his direction, in 2012.

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Sam Cooper

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@CullenInquiryBC

NEW: Canada Model money laundering crisis -- "Ottawa must crack down on Toronto underground banks, community leaders say" | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/7593255/o… @CullenInquiryBC

1. Iranian-Canadian community leaders and anti-money laundering experts say Canada is failing to police the explosive growth of Toronto-based underground currency exchanges that are laundering drug money, financing foreign terrorist groups, and supporting the Iranian regime.

2. 'Canada is showing itself to be a weak link in enforcing against money laundering. Because what we are seeing in Toronto is identical to the underground banking we are seeing on the west coast with money laundering, and how it relates to the regime in China.'

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Sam Cooper

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14 Jan

@CullenInquiryBC

Exclusive: Alleged RCMP mole accused of selling secrets to kingpin money launderer and terror-financier’s network | Globalnews.ca globalnews.ca/news/7568801/r… @CullenInquiryBC

@CullenInquiryBC

1. I'll unpack a few points from this ongoing investigation by Global News into the Ortis case. The allegations against Ortis, from my investigation, are very international in scope, and could not be more relevant to the work of @CullenInquiryBC

2. If you have the impression that Ottawa has been asleep at the wheel with issues of transnational drug cartels using Canadian cities as giant money laundering vehicles, that would be partly correct, in my years of expertise. But the Ortis case alleges something else going on.

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Sam Cooper

@scoopercooper

2 Dec 20

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2. Several former Canadian Security Intelligence Service officials interviewed by Global News said that CanSino’s Canadian-educated scientists were likely seen as potential assets by Chinese Communist Party information collection networks.

3. And one of the Canadian security consultants, said the agency responsible for the CanSino collaboration— the National Research Council (NRC) — should have seen red flags surrounding a CanSino partnership.

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