title: British Columbia hires investigator to probe money laundering in casinos
text: VANCOUVER (Reuters) - British Columbia has hired an investigator to look into money laundering at casinos in the Western Canadian province, it said on Thursday, after a report cited suspicious cash transactions at a Vancouver-area casino popular with Chinese gamblers. Peter German, a former deputy commissioner with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canada s national police force, has been tapped to conduct the independent review and complete it by March, Attorney General David Eby said in a statement. German will make recommendations on reform to the province s anti-money laundering laws, he added.  There are concerns about money laundering that have been growing for years   our government is taking action to deal with them quickly and thoroughly.  A 2016 report released last week flagged suspicious cash transactions at the River Rock Casino Resort in the Vancouver suburb of Richmond, including an incident involving C$13.5 million ($10.86 million) in C$20 bills. The report, commissioned by the previous Liberal government, highlighted problems with anti-money laundering rule compliance and cited the casino s culture of accepting large cash transactions without question. The report also said that the majority of high-risk cash transactions were from  high roller Asian VIP clients,  many of whom were recent immigrants to Canada or Chinese nationals. 