VANCOUVER — A payment processing company in Vancouver has been accused of being a "significant transnational criminal organization" by the United States Treasury Department.
In a news release Thursday, the department alleges the PacNet Group has a 20-year history of laundering cash raised through what it calls "fraudulent solicitation schemes" involving lotteries and mail fraud.
It alleges that PacNet has accepted and deposited millions of dollars in cash from U.S. victims, taken a cut and then returned the rest to "the scammers" via wire transfers from a holding account, which the department says obscures the money trail.
The Treasury Department says PacNet's operations are conducted through a global network run by 12 people, through 24 businesses in 18 countries.
In Canada, the department says it has offices in Vancouver and Ottawa, while two of 12 people named in the documents are also linked to separate properties in Vancouver and West Vancouver.
Three people listed as principals of PacNet could not be reached for comment.
In declaring PacNet a transnational criminal group, Treasury Department official John Smith says all PacNet property or interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction have been blocked, while the Department of Justice conducts searches and proceeds with criminal actions.
"PacNet has knowingly facilitated the fraudulent activities of its customers for many years, and (these) designations are aimed at shielding Americans ... from the large-scale, illicit money flows that are generated by these scams against vulnerable individuals," Smith said in the release.
