A 2014 probe originally targeted international money launderers. It eventually exposed an RCMP mole.

Federal Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said Ottawa was spending close to $100 million to set the teams up in Canada's four largest provinces.

Austin Cullen issued his first interim report on Thursday, commenting on the inquiry's mandate and evidence produced so far.

Insp. Wayne Holland told a public inquiry into money laundering that in 2008, he presented a report that showed how organized crime, money laundering and loan sharking were deeply embedded in B.C. Lottery Corporation casinos. His unit was disbanded in 2009.

The Cullen Commission released some of the transcripts of recorded conversations between former solicitor-general Kash Heed and former RCMP officer Fred Pinnock.

B.C.'s public inquiry into money laundering has heard from a former official with the Gaming Policy Enforcement Branch, who says he tried to warn the then-minister responsible.

Mike Hiller, a former anti-money laundering investigator, said managers at the Crown corporation cast doubts on his concerns about the River Rock Casiso.

A former commander of the province's anti-illegal gaming unit told the Cullen Commission that he believes Rich Coleman "did not want to be told" about concerns at B.C. casinos.

The Lottery Corp. preferred to let casino management approach the VIPs diplomatically and educate them about appropriate methods of transaction, Tottenham said.

The inquiry also heard from a former employee at the River Rock casino who, in 2019, blew the whistle on when exactly Macau-style money laundering exploded in B.C.