VANCOUVER -- Mounties have announced a $50,000 reward to help find a suspected B.C. money launderer wanted on a Canada-wide warrant.
Cong Dinh, 32, has been wanted since 2013 over allegations he was involved with a Vietnamese organized crime group in the U.S. and Canada that laundered nearly $2.7 million through the trafficking of cocaine and ecstasy. The reward was announced in a news conference at RCMP E Division headquarters in Surrey on Tuesday.
"Dinh is believed to have fled Canada to Vietnam prior to charges being approved and despite our continued efforts, he has not been located," said Chief. Supt. Keith Finn, the officer in charge of the RCMP Federal Policing Program.
Dinh has now been charged with five counts of money laundering and one count of possession of the proceeds of crime. His last known address in B.C. is on Goring Street near Holdom Avenue in Burnaby.
Mounties have partnered with the Bolo (Be On the Lookout) program to bring awareness to Dinh's case, which includes photos of him on bright yellow wanted posters.
"Cong Dinh is wanted for money laundering. Behind these charges rests many other suspected criminal activities like drug trafficking that directly threaten the children, people and communities of the Lower Mainland and British Columbia," said Sgt. Maxime Langlois with the Bolo program.
The reward is only available until June 3, 2020, so Mounties are encouraging anyone with information to come forward as soon as possible.
Mounties also addressed Dinh directly in their news conference, telling him to turn himself in.
"Mr. Dinh, you have been evading arrest. But someone here in the Lower Mainland where you're from knows exactly where you are," said Langlois. "And with the billboard and social media campaigns we're launching today and the $50,000 reward that can be claimed entirely anonymously, you can rest assured that the loyalty of your friends and associates will be tested."
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
