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A confidential report commissioned by B.C. Lottery Corp. estimates that B.C. casinos could lose up to $88 million in revenue each year if the government bans large cash transactions by VIP gamblers at high-limit betting tables.

An October 2017 report by HLT Advisory, obtained by Postmedia News, estimates financial effects that could follow if B.C. Lottery Corp. restricts VIPs from buying chips with over $10,000 in cash a day. The report points to significant financial ramifications for B.C.’s provincial budget and economy, and also for the casino corporations contracted to provide gambling in the province.

Attorney General David Eby said Thursday that the report was commissioned last September around the time when he called for an independent review into circumstances that let hundreds of millions in suspected drug-dealer cash flood Metro Vancouver casinos.

Postmedia News has reported on police investigations and government documents that allege that a transnational money-laundering operation used VIP gamblers from China to buy chips in B.C. casinos with loans of criminals’ cash. The scheme, which allowed ultra-wealthy VIPs to skirt China’s tight capital export controls, resembles the junket-type operations that are prevalent in Macau casinos, according to government documents.

“It quickly became apparent to me that the issue for the previous government and our government is that cracking down on suspicious transactions at government casinos will mean less income for government,” Eby said. “Clearly the proceeds of organized crime have been laundered through B.C. casinos for many years. I believe it is tremendously hypocritical, to on one hand say we are fighting gang crime, and on the other to be taking in government revenue that is connected to gang crime.”