Crackdown needed on unlicensed BC money exchanges: Richmond councillor

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A Richmond councillor and former top cop wants a crackdown on unlicensed currency exchanges after Postmedia News discovered one operating in his city without a licence for three years.

Kash Heed, a long-time Vancouver police officer and former B.C. solicitor general, got Richmond bylaw officers to issue a citation to Toronto Hansen Currency Exchange after Postmedia discovered the company was open despite being voluntarily dissolved in 2021.

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“When you brought it to our attention, and I talked to staff about it, they took immediate enforcement action, and will continue to take enforcement action,” Heed said.

Business owner Jack Qin recently testified at a murder trial that his currency exchange was licensed and continued to operate in Richmond despite two criminal convictions and an admission that he was involved in an illegal gambling “clubhouse.”

But Postmedia confirmed with the Richmond Business Registry and the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada that Qin’s business was neither registered nor licensed to operate.

“It is very shocking, but it’s not surprising. And the reason why I say that, is we’ve had this longstanding problem with currency and money exchanges here in British Columbia,” Heed said. “We need to go after these types of businesses operating without business licences in a very comprehensive fashion, to let them know that you cannot operate in Richmond.”

He called for a crackdown on other unlicensed currency exchanges, which he said are really the front line for money laundering.

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“When you recognize the limited power that municipal governments have, this is one area where you can make a difference to make sure these are not operating within your municipality,” said Heed. “It’s incumbent upon us to make sure we have legitimate, legal businesses that are licensed within our jurisdiction.”

Heed said it shouldn’t take a reporter sitting in on a murder trial to identify issues like illegal gambling and unlicensed money businesses in Richmond.

“You really have to give your head a shake and say, ‘What is going on?’” he said about Qin’s dramatic testimony at the trial of accused hitman Richard Reed. “We don’t have a handle whatsoever in order for us to deal with this particular problem.”

Heed said that when he was a Vancouver cop 22 years ago, they discovered an illegal money exchange operating out of an East Vancouver basement that was sending $12 million a month to Vietnam. None of the agencies contacted had the resources to investigate further, he said, adding that resources to tackle money laundering remain an issue.

The Cullen Commission on money laundering said currency exchanges, and other “money service businesses,” can be misused by organized crime.

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“Small independent MSBs, which are predominantly family owned, provide wire transfer services largely through informal networks,” the final report said. “They can be used by high-risk clients to wire funds to high-risk jurisdictions, and because they tend to be small and low-profile, they are vulnerable to exploitation.”

In response to concerns raised during the Cullen Commission, the B.C. government introduced the Money Services Businesses Act last year to establish a provincial registry and increased oversight of currency exchanges.

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