Some of the cash seized by ALERT as part of the Project Collector investigation. (Photo: ALERT)

By David Opinko/LethbridgeNewsNOW

"Project Collector"

$16 million in cash and property seized in Canada-wide money laundering investigation

Nov 23, 2022 | 12:41 PM

The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team (ALERT) has announced that it has dismantled a major money laundering organization.

Dubbed “Project Collector,” officers began a multi-year investigation in Calgary in July 2018 after $1 million in cash that was destined for Vancouver was intercepted.

ALERT says its “unprecedented investigation” alongside RCMP looked into an organization that had been financially supporting some of Canada’s largest crime groups.

The organization allegedly operated pseudo-bank branches at various locations across the country that had large cash reserves. According to ALERT, this allowed criminal groups to transfer funds while avoiding the detection of banks and authorities.

The money laundering is reportedly primarily connected to drug trafficking proceeds.

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“Proceeds of crime from some of Canada’s largest criminal organizations were allegedly being transported between Ontario, Alberta, and British Columbia,” says ALERT. “In a one-year period alone investigators identified the transfer of $24 million in cash, while the group’s money laundering activities date back to at least 2013.”

Over the course of the investigation, search warrants were executed at 10 homes in the Calgary, Toronto, and Vancouver areas.

More than $16 million in bank accounts, real estate holdings, and vehicles have been placed under criminal restraint.

A total of seven suspects have been arrested, four of whom are from Vancouver and three from Calgary. They face a combined 71 charges, some of which include participation in a criminal organization, laundering proceeds of crime, and trafficking property obtained by crime.

The following suspects were arrested in September 2022.

• Lien Ha, 42, of Calgary
• Donald Hoang, 26, of Vancouver
• Van Duc Hoang, 64, of Vancouver
• Van Thi Nguyen, 62, of Vancouver
• Cynthia Nguyen, 42, of Calgary
• Yuong Nguyen, 43, of Calgary
• Grace Tang, 25, of Vancouver

Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call their local police. Tips can also be submitted anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.