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“Vancouver has been described as the No. 1 supercar city in North America,” Eby told a finance committee in Ottawa earlier Tuesday. He defined a supercar as any vehicle costing more than $150,000. “I would love for us to be tracking people buying supercars with cash.”

New Rules

In December, the province imposed new rules on casinos requiring them to complete source-of-funds declarations for deposits of C$10,000 or more in cash. They were also prohibited from accepting cash from customers involved in two consecutive cash transactions until it was determined the source wasn’t suspicious or illegal.

Those appear to be having a dramatic effect.

On average, roughly $5 million a month in suspicious cash was being flagged at B.C. casinos. “The money was walking in the front door,” Eby said. “People with shopping bags full of $20 bills would walk it up to the cage.”

In February, following the new measures, suspicious cash transactions dropped to $200,000, Eby said.

Asked if similar rules could be coming for car dealerships, Eby replied, “our provincial government will do everything possible to ensure that dirty money is not involved in our economy to the extent possible, whether it’s luxury cars, real estate, casinos or elsewhere.”

For a story on how the crackdown will affect revenue in the province, click here

B.C. is pushing the federal government for a coordinated response to money laundering, arguing that provincial measures alone could simply push activity to other regions. Criminals could buy their luxury cars or set up opaque shell companies to buy property in another province.

The province hired Peter German, a former deputy police commissioner, to lead an independent investigation into money laundering in the gambling industry, and the final report is expected by March 31. Eby said German will continue with a second phase of the investigation focusing on the real estate sector.