[LINK] Postmedia News on how Chinese smuggle money to Canada through Vancouver

[rfmcdonald]

Sam Cooper at the National Post describes how Vancouver's airport is a major corridor for money smuggled from China.

Vancouver International Airport is the major port of entry for millions in hidden cash being smuggled into North America by mostly Chinese citizens, a federal document investigation by The Province reveals.

And according to money laundering investigators, the amounts identified in Canada Border Service Agency cash seizure data, obtained by The Province under freedom of information law, is only the tip of the iceberg.

Experts said Vancouver appears to be targeted by Chinese citizens because Canada’s forgiving border laws allow seized cash to be returned for minimal fines. As well, permissive property investment rules and loose reporting compliance in the real estate industry make Vancouver homes the perfect vehicle for illicit offshore investment.

“A lot of the illicit money coming into Canada from Chinese citizens is laundered through real estate in Vancouver,” Hayley Labbé, a senior forensic investigator with the firm MNP LLP, told The Province.

The Province obtained CBSA data months after undertaking a wide-ranging federal document search to learn more about China’s anti-graft initiatives such as Operation Fox Hunt and SkyNet — the aggressive crackdowns by the Communist Party of China on political corruption suspects.