Money Laundering in British Columbia: A Review of the Literature

Abstract

This document provides a review of literature that is concerned with describing and analyzing the nature and characteristics of money laundering (ML) with emphasis on Canada and British Columbia. This includes literature that provides a conceptual and theoretical overview of ML, its relationship with profit-oriented organized crime and criminal groups, a breakdown of ML methods and techniques, the commercial and financial sectors and professionals used to launder money, how the informal (underground) economy is used, as well as the effects that ML may have on organized crime, the economy, and society. These issue areas are applied to Canada and B.C. specifically and include a discussion of the so-called “Vancouver Model,” in addition to an analysis of the factors that put the country, the province, and the Lower Mainland at risk of ML. Because this review relied exclusively on public sources, including the news media, there are limitations to the accuracy and completeness of its findings, especially with respect to money laundering in B.C. and the Vancouver Model in particular.