A Boston-area underworld figure admitted to laundering money via Canadian casinos as well as conspiring to traffic cocaine last week. The crook pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court with sentencing set for later this year.
Federal authorities say Virak Prum was a member of the street gang One Family Clique (OFC), based in Lowell, Massachusetts. The charges came after an investigation began in August 2018 in what prosecutors described as a “dramatic spike” in gang violence in the area.
“According to prosecutors, OFC, which is an alliance between several gangs in and around Lowell and other states, was allegedly involved in 12 incidents of gunfire in the city during 2018 and 2019,” Massachusetts newspaper The Sun reports.
In other Canadian gaming news, Atlantic Canada gaming officials are looking at expansion to help keep online gaming funds in the region instead of heading to offshore operators.
More Details on the Money Laundering Case
Prosecutors described Prum, 36, as the gang’s second in command and said that OFC members used the U.S. Postal Service to receive shipments of narcotics. As part of the investigation, federal agents used search warrants to open OFC packages to discover the contents and then reseal them, sending them on through the chain as expected by gang members.
One package held $54,000 in cash shipped by Sarath Yut to a California supplier. The government described Yut as the gang’s top person in charge. The person receiving the cash would then ship drugs back to him.
Prosecutors said OFC operated stash houses in Lowell for gang members to operate. During the investigation, agents obtained or purchased methamphetamine, cocaine, MDMA (often known as “ecstasy”), heroin, and fentanyl. Investigators also seized $177,591 in cash and seven firearms.
“In May 2021, Prum was involved in a money laundering operation, set up by federal agents, in which he and his co-conspirators provided ‘protection’ to a shipment from Europe that prosecutors said contained a purported 8 million euros in drug proceeds from black tar heroin sales from Afghanistan,” the newspaper noted.
The gang’s operations included attempts to launder drug sale proceeds through a Canadian casino, according to The Sun. Money laundering has become a bigger concern in recent years in the country.
In May, CTV News reported suspicious transactions flagged in 2022 involving $350 million, $40 million higher than some pre-pandemic higher reporting totals. Law enforcement notes that these figures warn criminal organizations may be attempting to use casinos more for money laundering.
The issue came to light after suspicious transactions at Ontario’s Fallsview Casino involving a suspect named Branavan Kanapathipilla. Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) began investigating Kanapathipilla after he made deposits and withdrawals of $4 million in cash at Toronto casinos over several years.
The transactions didn’t raise major red flags, according to the OPP. Officials then seized $100,000 in cash that was deposited in November at Fallsview after the transaction was reported by staff. Police allege Kanapathipilla was involved in loan sharking, but that he may have left the country after skipping a court hearing.
The OPP notes that Fallsview’s red flag helps in these cases as Canadian authorities continue fighting money laundering efforts. CTV noted about the larger amount of flagged casino cash that “provincial gambling officials say the high number is a sign casino staff are rigorously reporting suspicious transactions.”
Atlantic Lottery Considers Expanding Online Gaming Operations
After Ontario regulated its own online gaming market and online iGaming is seeing growth in the combined markets of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, the Atlantic Lottery Corporation (ALC) is also looking to get in on the action.
The ALC serves New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador, and is looking at adding iGaming options for all four provinces. The ALC already offers online gaming in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, but officials are also now hoping to add options to the other two provinces as well.
Offshore online gaming continues in the area and ALC hopes to stem that off with its own regulated operations throughout the region.
“A regulated alternative can provide those players with extra protections and tools to help them keep their play responsible, while keeping those funds in our region to reinvest in services essential to all Atlantic Canadian residents. That sounds like a win-win to me,” Atlantic Lottery CEO Patrick Daigle writes in a post on the ALC website.
Daigle estimates $100 million is lost each year via offshore gambling sites. He’s hoping the renewed efforts help keep some of that money in Atlantic Canada.
“We have undergone this process in order to explore offering online casino-style games to players across our region,” Daigle writes, “in hopes of eventually offering a regulated alternative to this illegal competition. This process involved a number of independent expert reviews.”
