Manitoba Justice targets money laundering with planned new hires
Investigators, financial analyst will try to cut off money source for organized crime
Manitoba Justice is expanding its criminal property forfeiture branch with the aim of disrupting organized crime by taking control of money obtained illegally.
Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen announced on Tuesday that two investigators and a financial analyst will be hired to identify money laundering and those who are involved in it and then go after the funds.
"Criminal activity is like a chain with several links in it. There isn't one simple solution, but impact is made when you try to weaken each link in that chain," Goertzen said at a news conference with RCMP.
"Going after those who are laundering money deals with organized crime, but it also impacts other violence instances we're seeing on our streets, in our community."
There are currently six people in the criminal property forfeiture branch, which will increase by 50 per cent when three more are hired, Goertzen said.
The announcement comes a year after the province changed legislation to give the unit more powers to quickly act on securing money that investigators believe is illegally earned and is being or is going to be laundered.
Technology presents challenges
Insp. Grant Stephen, with the federal serious and organized crime section of the Manitoba RCMP, said it's important for the unit to have more flexibility and support to keep on top of crime rings, because rapidly changing technologies make it difficult to keep up with organized crime.
Dark web marketplaces and the use of virtual currencies allow people to launder money quickly and anonymously, making investigations more difficult for police, Stephen said.
"It is a challenging area of criminal investigation. We need to have all the tools we can at our disposal to help us navigate the shifting landscape of these types of crime," he said.
It's especially difficult to track money after it's been laundered, so Stephen hopes the three new hires will help find that money before it becomes more difficult to trace.
To date, roughly $20 million seized through criminal property forfeiture has been used to support initiatives that help prevent crime, including recent support for the Bear Clan patrols in Winnipeg.