https://www.bowenislandundercurrent.com/highlights/richmond-money-launderer-receives-18-month-jail-sentence-11534043

A Richmond woman has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for money laundering.

Alexandra Joie Chow, 37, was sentenced by Justice Richard Browning in Richmond Provincial Court on Monday, Nov. 24, 2025, after pleading guilty to one count of "laundering proceeds of crime."

Her defence lawyer, Josh Oppal, was asking for a conditional sentence of two years less a day, while Crown prosecutor David Hainey was asking for 22 months in jail.

Chow was arrested on Nov. 21, 2021, after meeting with undercover officers several times over a period of seven months.

She laundered about $530,000 for the officers, taking bundled cash and converting them into bank drafts.

The undercover officers, who were posing as cocaine traffickers, told her on a few occasions that they were drug traffickers. Once, they produced what was supposed to be bricks of cocaine, asking her if she knew what it was, to which she replied that she did, Browning explained in his sentencing decision.

Chow laundered bulk cash in amounts ranging from $50,000 to $70,000 and charged 5% interest. She said she received 1% of the proceeds.

At some point, she told the undercover officers that she could get a better rate if they laundered amounts higher than $100,000.

Browning noted the argument of Chow's defence lawyer was that her motivation to launder the money was “altruistic.”

“I cannot accept that Ms. Chow’s motivation to commit the offence was in some way altruistic to assist someone in a loan,” Browning said.

“I find it was motivated by greed and whether she was fully aware of the offences’ part played in the working of the drug trade, I find that her understanding falls somewhere between being fully aware and being wilfully blind,” he added.

Browning noted the maximum sentence for the offence is 10 years in jail.

Quoting from the Cullen Commission, Browning said money laundering’s origin, crimes such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and fraud, destroys communities and victimizes “the most vulnerable members of society.”

Further quoting Cullen, Browning said money laundering is an “affront” to law-abiding citizens who earn their money “honestly.”

“In my view, this is a very serious offence,” he added.

He said aggravating factors were the long period of time over which Chow committed the offences, the “significant” amount she was able to launder, the fact she had to have known the money came from drug trafficking, that she was trusted with handling significant sums of money and was soliciting larger sums.

“I find her involvement to be less than someone in complete control but greater than a mere underling,” Browning said.

As for mitigating factors, Browning said these were Chow’s guilty plea, the fact she had no criminal record and that she was “pro social,” well-educated and has been employed for a long time.

He was, however, concerned that she hadn’t let her immediate family know about the criminal case against her.

“In my view, an adequate measure of deterrence and denunciation cannot be achieved by a conditional sentence,” Browning said before sentencing Chow.

After her 18-month jail sentence, Chow will not be on probation.

After sentencing, Chow was handcuffed in court and taken away by a sheriff.

'Major milestone' in combating organized crime, financial crimes: CFSEU-BC

This is the first sentencing for money laundering in B.C. in a decade, and the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. (CFSEU-BC) called it a “major milestone” in its efforts to combat organized crime and financial crimes.

It followed a “complex, multi-year” investigation into loan sharking and laundering proceeds of crime by the Joint Illegal Gaming Investigation Team (JIGIT), which is part of CFSEU-BC, the agency said in a press release.

“(This sentencing) underscores the impact of collaborative investigative work and reflects JIGIT’s mandate to deliver a coordinated, multijurisdictional response to illegal gaming tied to organized crime, including money laundering, loan-sharking and sophisticated bookmaking, all in support of protecting British Columbians,” said Sgt. Sarbjit K. Sangha, CFSEU-BC media relations officer.