Authorities in British Columbia are seeking to confiscate C$880,000 (US$650,000) from Tujie Lai, an individual implicated in money laundering activities involving numerous casinos in Canada, according to CBC. Lai, who claims to have amassed significant wealth through the junket industry in Macau, is a fugitive wanted in mainland China on charges ranging from kidnapping and extortion to leading a criminal organization.
In 2018, Lai frequently visited the River Rock Casino Resort in Richmond, B.C., raising red flags with his gambling habits, which authorities believe were indicative of money laundering. Investigations by B.C.’s Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit revealed that in July 2017, Lai purchased $250,000 worth of casino chips and subsequently cashed out $610,000. Additionally, in November 2018, he converted $20,000 in U.S. currency into casino chips using bundles of $100 bills wrapped with elastic bands—an unorthodox method viewed with suspicion by financial authorities.
Further scrutiny came in December 2019 when Lai appeared at the River Rock Casino with C$9,900 in a collection of $20 and $50 bills. These bundles were also bound with elastic bands, a method not in line with standard banking practices. Given that the threshold for mandatory cash transaction reporting at casinos stood at $10,000, these activities were seen as a deliberate attempt to circumvent reporting requirements, a tactic frequently associated with money laundering.
At that time, River Rock was at the heart of a profound money laundering crisis in British Columbia, which spiraled into a national scandal. Starting from around 2010, a lack of adequate oversight in provincial casinos allowed organized crime groups connected to the drug trade to launder vast sums of money through exclusive VIP rooms. Chinese high rollers were often fronted gambling money by underground banks, facilitating the bypassing of stringent Chinese currency movement regulations. These funders mingled drug-related cash with gambling money, slowly cleansing illicit funds through casino chip conversion.
In October 2019, Lai’s attempts to illegally cross the US-Canadian border led to a dramatic encounter with U.S. Border Patrol, prompting him to flee back into Canada. He was eventually apprehended by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, handed over to U.S. authorities, and subsequently returned to Canadian custody.
A recent filing to the B.C. Supreme Court disclosed that in October 2019, Lai’s wife paid the sum authorities now aim to seize to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to secure his release. Lai, at the time, was under an Interpol red notice, implicating him in several serious offenses, including extortion, assault, conspiracy, and perjury.
