A newly released report shows billions of dollars in money laundering led to increased B.C. housing prices.
According to British Columbia's Expert Panel on Money Laundering in Real Estate, more than $7 billion in dirty money was laundered in this province in 2018, hiking the cost of buying a home by about 5%.
The panel's report, which was released along with the remaining chapters of Peter German's review into money laundering in real estate, luxury cars and horse racing, estimates that a total of $7.4 billion was laundered in B.C. in 2018.
The panel estimates that $5 billion was laundered through the real estate market.
German's report found thousands of specific properties worth billions as "high risk" for potential money laundering, tax evasion or both.
He also found that there was no agency or police force with adequate oversight or resources to investigate these suspicious activities.
It builds on German's first report into money laundering in casinos and his work on luxury cars, demonstrating the pervasiveness of dirty money throughout B.C.'s economy.