Canada

CHAPTER 3. LEGAL SYSTEM AND OPERATIONAL ISSUES
Box 5. Case study: Project LAUREAT
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In 2010, in order to obtain the CAD 1.3 billion contract of modernization of a Health Centre (“HC”),
the president (“P”) and vice-president (“VP”) of an engineer company (“EC”) had bribed the top
officials, “Y” and “Z,” of the HC to get the award. Upon the announcement of the award to EC, the VP
transferred a total of CAD 22.5 million to the shell companies in foreign countries owned by Y and Z.
Y further transferred the crime proceeds to the accounts of his wife’s (Y’s wife) shell companies.
Numerous MLAT requests were executed and bank accounts in nine other countries, worth more
than CAD 8.5 million, were blocked. Y, Z, P, VP were also extradited from other countries. The
syndicate was charged with corruption, fraud, ML along with other offenses. For Y’s wife, who has
only been involved in laundering the CAD 22.5 million, was sentenced to 33 months of
imprisonment. 1 Upon her conviction, seven buildings (value at CAD 5.5 million) were confiscated.
1. The sentence of Y’s wife expires in December 2016, but she was granted full parole in September 2015.
137. While Project LAUREAT was relatively successful, overall, on the face of the statistics and
cases provided as well as of the discussions held on-site, it was not established that Canada
adequately pursues ML related to all very high-risk predicate offenses identified in the NRA.
138. As indicated in the statistics on standalone ML / PPOC prosecutions below, there were 35
(3.4%) and 14 271 (9.6%) standalone ML and PPOC concluded respectively in the last five years. As
professional money launderers are mostly involved in ML (rather than PPOC) cases, the fact that
Canada only led 35 prosecutions and obtained 12 convictions of single-charge ML cases in the last
five years is a concern. It is possible and, according to the authorities, very likely that a professional
money launderer would also be charged with another charge such as conspiracy, fraud, or organized
crime in addition to ML, but the numbers nevertheless appear too low in light of the risk.
Table 6. Results of Single Charge ML Cases
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 Total %
Guilty 2 2 4 3 1 12 34.3%
Acquitted 0 0 0 0 1 1 2.9%
Stayed 0 1 3 1 0 5 14.3%
Withdrawn 2 4 4 2 2 14 40.0%
Other decisions 0 0 1 0 2 3 8.6%
Total 4 7 12 6 6 35 100%
Source: Statistics Canada’s Integrated Criminal Court Survey (ICCS)
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Anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing measures in Canada - 2016 © FATF and APG 2016