By Canadian Press

Ex-Mountie expected to face questions from ex-minister’s lawyer at public inquiry

Nov 17, 2020 | 1:03 AM

VANCOUVER — A lawyer representing former British Columbia cabinet minister Kash Heed is scheduled to cross-examine a retired RCMP officer today at a public inquiry into money laundering.

Heed was granted limited status at the inquiry last week after former Mountie Fred Pinnock testified that Heed told him a former gaming minister knew about organized crime in casinos. 

Pinnock recently testified that Heed, who was the solicitor general at the time, told him then-gaming minister Rich Coleman was more concerned about generating revenue at casinos than the presence of organized crime. 

Pinnock, who was in charge of the RCMP’s integrated illegal gaming enforcement team, says he also recorded Heed making similar comments years later about Coleman.

The B.C. government appointed Supreme Court Justice Austin Cullen to lead the public inquiry into money laundering after three reports outlined how hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal cash affected the province’s real estate, luxury vehicle and gaming sectors.

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The Ministry of the Attorney General also confirmed Monday that Cullen has handed in an interim report, which it is reviewing before it’s made public by the commission. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2020.

The Canadian Press