A Tiny Piece of a $45B Puzzle: The Chow Money Laundering Case
A rare money laundering conviction in Canada
A multi-year investigation by British Columbia’s anti-gang police has resulted in an 18-month jail sentence for Alexandra Joie Chow, a Richmond woman who laundered hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash through an unlicensed money-services operation.
The case dates back to 2019 and stems from a Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit–British Columbia (CFSEU-BC) probe into loan-sharking, illegal money services business, and the laundering of proceeds of crime. CFSEU-BC is an integrated policing program that draws officers from agencies across the province, including the RCMP, and is headquartered at the RCMP’s E Division in Metro Vancouver.
Keep reading to see how a seemingly modest $828,000 laundering scheme exposes structural failures in Canada’s $45-billion illicit economy.