Dirty Money in B.C. – Luxury Toys and Legal Loopholes (Part 4)

🚗 Dirty Money in B.C. – Luxury Toys and Legal Loopholes (Part 4)

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

Dirty money doesn’t just go into casinos and real estate. It also shows up in luxury vehicles, jewelry, art, and more.

🛻 Cars, Cash, and Cover-Ups

Criminals would walk into dealerships with hundreds of thousands in cash to buy high-end vehicles. Some would flip those cars or ship them overseas. Others used them to flaunt wealth and launder money — all while staying under the radar.

Some car salespeople raised concerns, but again — **profits over ethics**.

⚖️ Law Enforcement Failures

The Cullen Commission found that the RCMP and FINTRAC were **ineffective** in stopping money laundering. Reports were filed, red flags were everywhere — and yet, almost no investigations led to charges or convictions.

Why? Because white-collar crime enforcement is **underfunded, siloed, and not a priority**. Meanwhile, police over-police poor communities and street-level crime.

🏛️ Who Was Supposed to Stop It?

• FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada)
• BCLC (BC Lottery Corporation)
• Lawyers, notaries, accountants – all supposed to be gatekeepers

But most did little or nothing. Some even enabled it.

💭 Reflective Questions:

• Why do you think we punish poverty so aggressively but barely prosecute financial crime?
• How can we demand real accountability in the system?

Tomorrow: Part 5 – Still No Justice? What’s Changed (and What Hasn’t)

#LuxuryLaundering #CullenCommission #RCMP #JusticeForAll #ZipolitaSpeaks