May.27, 2010, 19:44
Four people have been arrested by Quebec provincial police regarding an alleged international money-laundering operation for organized crime. They seized $48 million in assets, according to the police.
Money from organized crime and fallacious construction statements was directed to shell companies in Belgium and Switzerland, as per the police reports. The money was sent to Canada by the companies to a business called Speedo Financial Corp. located in Montreal's Rosemont district.
Police further added that Speedo would lend the money to genuine borrowers at a legal rate of 18 per cent. RCMP Insp. Martine Fontaine said, "What we have to do as police officers is go beyond what seems to be legal, and investigate the origin of the funds that are used to commit these - on face value - legal activities".
The scheme resulted in $12 million in lost tax revenue 1996 between 2009.
Speedo was fined $1.5 million for tax dodging in a scheme connected to illegal drug smuggling in the year 2005, as it helped directing money to offshore Companies that created counterfeit invoices. Millions of dollars were made legal with the help of those fake invoices for a drug dealer bringing in marijuana from the Bahamas.