The Money Laundering Hub On the U.S. Border? It’s Canada

Strict privacy laws, a reluctance among banks to report suspicious activity and weak regulators contribute to low number of convictions

Alistair MacDonald,

Paul Vieira and

Vipal Monga

Aug. 8, 2018 8:00 a.m. ET

After a Vancouver-based real-estate agent wired almost $240,000 from Canada’s Bank of Montreal to an account in Boston last year, U.S. authorities swooped in.

They arrested Omid Mashinchi and in January charged him with laundering drug money. Mr. Mashinchi pleaded guilty to the charges in late July in federal court in Massachusetts.

The case...