WINNIPEG, Manitoba, March 26 (UPI) -- Canadian authorities have filed charges against an Ontario man who had a backpack full of $100 bills when he went through security at a bus depot last year.
Erwin Thomas Speckert, 50, of Minden was found with $1.3 million in cash when he attempted to board a Greyhound bus bound for Vancouver at a depot in Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Free Press reported.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba charged Speckert Monday with possessing proceeds of crime for the purpose of trafficking.
They said the money in his backpack constituted the proceeds of illegal gambling in Ontario.
Speckert may be a Swiss national who has a financial company in Switzerland and another financial company that operates in the British Virgin Islands, investigators said.
Richard Gilhooley of the British Columbia Securities Commission confirmed that Speckert is the same man who has been under regulatory investigation in B.C. concerning his role as an intermediary in the sale of stocks.
