Federal Mounties say a B.C. man has been charged with laundering the proceeds of crime by diverting $47 million from illicit cannabis sales through his numbered companies.
The alleged money laundering scheme is said to have taken place in B.C. and Alberta, according to the RCMP Federal Policing Northwest Region’s Federal Financial Crime Team (FFCT) in Edmonton, which arrested and charged Burnaby resident Harry Seo with four criminal counts.
Seo appeared in Vancouver Provincial Court Friday following his arrest in Vancouver, police said in a statement.
Seo is presumed innocent before the court issues a judgment.
Seo is alleged to have operated unregistered money service businesses via numbered companies to convert the proceeds of crime.
Police said Seo is “alleged to have been financially compensated by the criminal organization for laundering the proceeds of crime and for concealing its origins from law enforcement, regulatory authorities and financial institutions.”
Additionally, Seo also operated two illicit cannabis-related business in the Edmonton and Burnaby areas, police allege.
Seo’s associates sold the cannabis via a variety of online dispensaries.
Five other individuals unnamed by police have already been sentenced in relation to the alleged scheme. Those individuals received conditional sentences ranging from nine to 12 months and ordered to forfeit between $50,000 and $155,000 each.
RCMP said it partnered with FINTRAC and the Canada Revenue Agency to collect evidence of the alleged scheme.
"This was a substantial win in Canada’s fight against money laundering and criminal organizations who seek to undermine the economic integrity of Canada’s financial institutions," said Insp. John Lamming, Officer in Charge of Northwest Region Financial Integrity and Cybercrime – Edmonton.
BIV has asked RCMP for the name of one of the five other individuals who is a B.C. resident and will update this article should it receive a response.
