Article content continued

It would be odd if they didn’t, according to experts on the Macau gambling model.

In Macau style junkets — which are designed specifically to get big money out of China — gambling is often a secondary consideration.

“Once they’re done gambling, they can take their winnings in U.S. funds or Hong Kong dollars and invest it in property or offshore tax havens,” explains a Business Insider report, citing a legal study on Macau casino junkets. “In many cases, there will be no actual transfer of funds, but rather a simple balancing of accounts between credits in mainland China and debits in Macau.”

BCLC documents, obtained by Postmedia through freedom of information requests, allege that 36 VIP gamblers, mostly from China, were linked to massive cash drops from Jin’s network.

Postmedia’s cross-referencing of B.C. civil court filings, land title documents and BCLC documents suggests that B.C. real estate was indeed a big bet for a number of these “high-risk” VIPs.

In 2014, one high-roller was able to take $645,000 in small bills dropped off to him, and buy gambling chips at River Rock Casino. B.C.’s gaming enforcement branch was interested in the gambler’s “recent use of large volumes of un-sourced cash and casino value chips at River Rock Casino,” documents say. Documents say BCLC knew the man had significant assets, including a Vancouver mansion.

Land title records show the man has a $14-million house near the Point Grey Country Club.