The RCMP has more than five people working on money laundering, which cansa国际传媒檛 be separated from the range of activities by international organized crime, a spokesman for the B.C. RCMP says.

Assistant Commander Kevin Hackett of the B.C. released a statement in response to B.C. Attorney General David Ebysa国际传媒檚 claim Monday that the RCMPsa国际传媒檚 federally funded division has only five people devoted to investigating money laundering and its involvement in B.C. real estate.

The count of five officers actually on duty out of 25 funded positions sa国际传媒渨as from a snapshot in time and didnsa国际传媒檛 capture all personnel who are involved in cases where money laundering is a component,sa国际传媒� Hackett said. sa国际传媒淔ederal policing in B.C. currently has in excess of 40 prioritized projects underway, including eight that involve money laundering.

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Recruiting and retaining forensic accountants, cybercrime experts and other in-demand specialists is also a competitive market internationally, he said.

sa国际传媒淭his is also at a time when we are dealing with the competing policing priorities, which include terrorism, gang violence, the opioid crisis including fentanyl, missing and murdered women, human trafficking as well as child exploitation and demands for front-line policing resources.sa国际传媒�

Eby said Tuesday that his independent investigator Peter German had to ask repeatedly to find out the actual staffing complement, after first being told there were 26 funded positions devoted to B.C.sa国际传媒檚 situation.

A-G isnsa国际传媒檛 impressed with staffing to combat BCsa国际传媒檚 world-leading problem

sa国际传媒� Tom Fletcher (@tomfletcherbc)

sa国际传媒淭he time that the snapshot was taken is when wesa国际传媒檙e facing an international level of criticism in Canada for our failure on anti-money laundering policing,sa国际传媒� Eby said. sa国际传媒淪o itsa国际传媒檚 hard to think of a worse time.sa国际传媒�

Eby released a single chapter of Germansa国际传媒檚 report Monday to put pressure on Ottawa to allocate funds from its latest budget to stepping up organized crime investigations in B.C.

Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton, spokesman for the joint organized crime unit that combines RCMP and municipal police efforts, noted that its illegal gaming investigation team was established three years ago.

sa国际传媒淚n May 2016, only one month after its creation, the initiated an investigation into the activities of an organized crime group that was allegedly involved in operating an illegal money laundering network,sa国际传媒� Hougton said, adding that multiple arrests were made after an investigation lasting almost a year.

tfletcher@blackpress.ca
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