Former longtime Langley East MLA Rich Coleman has been recalled for another round of testimony at the Cullen Commission鈥檚 hearings into money laundering in B.C. casinos.

He will return to the hearing virtually on May 14 at noon. The hearings are livestreamed publicly.

Coleman, who was the minister in charge of gaming in B.C. several times during his time in cabinet between 2001 and 2017.

During his first round of testimony on April 28, Coleman downplayed the seriousness of the money laundering issue during his time in government, and denied that the government鈥檚 motives were driven by a need for revenue from gaming.

He defended the Liberal government鈥檚 record on managing gaming, saying government briefings that described a 鈥渞obust anti-money laundering regime鈥� in B.C. were 鈥減retty accurate.鈥�

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He also testified that casino employees helped prevent laundering by giving the same cash back to gamblers that they had deposited, but earlier testimony by casino employees suggested that even when cash was returned, it wasn鈥檛 the same cash 鈥� bundles of $20 bills came in in huge amounts in 2010, and were returned as $100 bills, a process known as 鈥渞efining,鈥� which makes illict cash easier to handle.

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In the week leading up to Coleman鈥檚 testimony, the commission is hearing from international experts, from Great Britain, the United States, and Europe.

Coleman represented Langley-Aldergrove and then Langley East from 1996 to his retirement from office at the 2020 provincial election.