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A cheque by cheque analysis of three years of payouts over $10,000 at the River Rock Casino Resort has revealed “no systemic pattern of money-laundering activity,” according to the B.C. Lottery Corporation.

The new finding appears to be in conflict with the narrative of money-laundering promoted by the provincial government, which launched a review of casino transactions in late 2017.

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Ernst and Young LLP Canada was commissioned to test allegations that patrons were playing with “dirty money” by buying casino chips with cash, pretending to gamble and then cashing in their chips for a clean cheque from the casino.

Ernst and Young analyzed more than 2,000 cheques of $10,000 or more issued to players in 2014, 2015 and 2016 with a value of about $280 million.

They found that 49 cheques valued at about $7 million were exceptions to money-laundering controls, about 2.4 per cent.

In one case, a patron entered the casino with $300,000 in cash and was issued a cheque with no recorded game play. Nine patrons who withdrew money from casino-based gaming accounts linked to accounts at Canadian banks were issued verified win cheques totalling $3.5 million with no recorded game play.