Angry Mortgage Special Guest: Sam Cooper Founder and First Journalist at The Bureau’. Also, author of the best-seller, Wilful Blindness | EP. 168
Apr 7, 2026
Sam Cooper, investigative journalist and founder of The Bureau, is known for probing foreign money and influence in Canada. He discusses mystery buyers in Vancouver real estate, casino cash laundering schemes, links between developers, organized crime and foreign security operations, and why major prosecutions often fail. Short, intense conversations about hidden capital and political consequences.
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Hockey Bags Of Cash Laundered Through BC Casinos
- The 'hockey bag' laundering method used BC casinos to convert dirty cash into casino checks usable for property down payments.
- Justice Cullen later estimated about $1.2 billion in large cash casino transactions in 2014, mostly in Richmond.
Data On Foreign Buyers Met Political Pushback
- Reporting on foreign-buying effects was met with accusations of racism, even when data showed students or housewives listed as buyers.
- Sam notes politicians like Gregor Robertson dismissed academic findings despite strong empirical signals of unexplained mortgages.
Illicit Chinese Police Stations Monitored Diaspora
- Sam describes clandestine Chinese 'police stations' in Canadian cities run by CCP security networks to monitor and harass diaspora communities.
- Safeguard Defenders' documentation forced government action, but Sam says the underlying networks continued operating.
