Study shows banks launder more money than casinos

Some eyebrows were raised Thursday by media speculation that suggested the province of New Brunswick will need to ante-up big to hire more plain-clothed police officers to prevent a new casino from becoming a hotbed for criminal activities such as money laundering, reported the Times & Transcript in Moncton, NB, Aug. 1. While crime is always a possibility no matter where people are drawn together in large groups, the Hollywood stereotype of organized crime festering within the doors of all casinos may need an update, according to a representative of the casino industry and a government spokesman.  

In fact, a York University study of RCMP-investigated money laundering cases suggests that if the province is thinking about adding plain-clothed officers to curb money laundering, they should be posted in banks, where the majority of laundering activities take place in Canada. "Deposit institutions are used more frequently to launder the proceeds of crime than any other single sector of the Canadian economy," writes criminologist Stephen Schneider, a research associate for York’s Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime & Corruption, in his 2004 analysis titled "Money Laundering in Canada: An Analysis of RCMP Cases".  

Wrapped in style: young Muslims experiment with hijabs

Sobia Malik, a psychology student at York University, started experimenting with new ways to wrap her hijab after she started wearing one a few years ago. She wanted a style that would help boost her confidence and not look out of place with her fashionable Western clothes, reported the Toronto Star Aug. 1 in a story about changing fashions in the traditional headscarf.  

On air

  • There was a heightened police presence at York University after a threat was made against the University in a phone call Thursday, reported Global TV July 31.
  • A new project spearheaded by the Nunavut Research Institute and York University is looking at arctic streams and how our warming world impacts what lurks there, reported CBC TV’s “Northbeat” in Yellowknife July 31.
  • Astronomer Paul Delaney, senior lecturer in York’s Department of Physics & Astronomy, discussed how science could improve our lives, as part of a panel on TVO’s “The Agenda” July 31.