More than $7 billion in dirty money was laundered in B.C. in 2018, hiking the cost of buying a home by about 5%, according to British Columbia’s Expert Panel on Money Laundering in Real Estate.
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“Our housing market should be used for housing people, not for laundering the proceeds of crime,” said Carole James, Minister of Finance. “The amount of money being laundered in B.C. and through real estate is much more than anyone predicted. Our government is tackling the housing crisis head-on and taking action to combat the money laundering that has been allowed to drive up housing costs for British Columbians for far too long.”
The panel’s report, which was released along with the remaining chapters of Peter German’s review into money laundering in real estate, luxury cars and horse racing, estimates that a total of $7.4 billion was laundered in B.C. in 2018. The panel estimates that $5 billion was laundered through the real estate market.
German’s report found thousands of specific properties worth billions as “high risk” for potential money laundering, tax evasion or both. He also found that there was no agency or police force with adequate oversight or resources to investigate these suspicious activities. This builds on German’s first report into money laundering in casinos and his work on luxury cars, demonstrating the pervasiveness of dirty money throughout B.C.’s economy.
The panel’s report and recommendations address many of the troubling practices and problems German’s findings identify. James and Eby are reviewing the findings from both reports and will take further action to get dirty money out of B.C.
Government has already taken significant steps to make the real estate market more fair and transparent, and to fight dirty money. ■
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