As part of an investigation into suspected money laundering at casinos in Ontario, CBC News discovered it isn’t difficult to leave a casino with an official cheque, even after behaving in what security officials consider to be a suspicious manner.

CBC News carried out the experiment after learning the RCMP in Ontario fear criminals are using a loophole within the casino system to launder the proceeds of crime. The Mounties suspected a convicted Toronto-area drug kingpin fed cash into slot machines, cashed out and got casinos to issue a cheque for the amount. Most of the cash transactions involved amounts below the $10,000 limit. That amount is supposed to alert gaming regulators that something may be amiss.

To test the system, CBC News visited two Ontario gambling establishments ?Casino Rama, outside of Orillia, Ont., on Dec. 1, 2005, and Mohawk Racetrack, west of Toronto, on March 25, 2008.

At each casino, three members of a CBC News team fed $15,000 into slot machines in full view of casino staff, patrols and overhead surveillance cameras. No one inquired as the team ?one of whom was wired with a hidden camera ?spent an hour pumping $20 bills into the machines.

After the machines were loaded with the money, CBC News cashed out, took the vouchers from the slot machines and asked the casino cashier for official casino cheques. For the first test, CBC was issued two separate cheques for $4,951 and $9,502 ?each below the $10,000 threshold. For the second test, CBC received a single cheque for $14,640.

Source:http://www.casinonews.org/