‘PAULITICS & PERSPECTIVES THE GREAT Canadian public (well, two of them) _ have complained that a 7 recent column about the Central Intelligence Agency spy Was written without enough thought. ‘ Since I do almost everything ‘without much thought, this criti- cism Came as a surprise; but, on . reflection, it seems worth answer- ing. The column suggested the CIA was a card short of. a full deck _ because it failed to ask how the sus- » pect was able to pay cash for a $500,000 home on a $69,900 a year salary. colo The: question raised by the read- ers is, how does anybody buy any- thing with that much cold cash? To the extent of which I had considered the matter, I assumed the spy would join the teller’s “queue at the bank like the rest of us, : and hand over his cheque for half a . million dollars. ‘Sd do that if [had a million and wanted to go to Brazil. . ~The nice lady behind the counter would ask if I wanted it taken out > of chequing or savings and when : answered that she would want to |: ~ know if 1 wanted small bills or big ~ ones." “- Tywould say small ones would do, 50 of the $10,000 denomination or-even 500 of the $1,000 kind - could do. And do banks issue : plastic bags : as ‘supermarkets do? . ‘Turns out our world is not : arranged that way at all. : First, a real estate friend ” informed moe that if f handed him a ., suitcase full of American $100 bills : he would run, not walk, to the near- est Royal Canadian Mounted Police . Station with them. | : “Nobody except a heroin whole- saler uses cash in! amounts like that. . . “When those news reports said that the spy paid cash, you can bet it meant he passed over a bank draft which was instantly cashable because there was really half a mil- lion in his accounts which had been hypothecated to the deal.” This explanation isn't as helpful as it sounds. No doubt the Russians paid the spy in cash, They may have paid him in the US $100 bills being manufactured by the Iranians — queer that it is so goad itis almost undetectable even to the U.S. Treasury. But the question remains, how did he get that cash into his bank account without drawing attention to himself? How are you and 1 going to do it if Uncle Wilbur dies and leaves that much under the Moor linoleum for us? “What would you do if I said 1 wanted to put $500,000 cash into my savings account?" I asked my bank manager. “if it were you, T would tell you to wait until the Valium had worn off and not mix any alcohol with it,” he said. “What if I had $500,000 in a suitca.e and brought it in?” “In that case, we would have to believe you had it. However, we'd be required by law to ask you where you got it. “After we got your answer. which would not satisfy us, we’d have to notify the authorities.” “T could say I won it at Las Vegas.” “You'd have to prove it. Uncle Sam keeps track of all big win- nings, se what you claimed could be checked.” Here or in the U.S., the smallest amount of cash I could deposit with no questions asked is just under $10,000, he said. A moment’s calculation, which my hand-held computer did this moment, shows that the Washington mole would have had ‘to find 51 separate banks and inake $9,803 deposits in each one: Either that or come back to the same bank 51 times pulling $9,803 out of his mittens every time. A police friend who works the drug squad says money laundering ’ is far from easy. “In this case the Russians and the spy might have to set up off- shore bank accounts in the Bahamas or some such haven. “Then there’d be need for a phony company or so or perhaps even a real operating company with phony account books.” “You make it sound as though paying cash for things is a sin.” “Tt often is, unless you’re buying ice cream cones and other small items. “We found a few million dollars - in somebody’s car trunk a while ago and because the occupants didn’t seem to remember where they got it, it’s forfeit to the Crown. Survey celebrates WV’s architectural heritage WEST VANCOUVER has - enthusiastically received a sur- vey. of significant local archi- tecture created during the °1945- 1975 period: |”. : (SEGAL CORRAL CPT . WEST VANCOUVER . DISTRICT COUNCIL By Maureen Curtis The report, prepared by the Foundation Group Inc., documents 318 examples of significant build- ing design undertaken in the munic- ipality over the 30-year span. At that time, according to the consultants, West Vancouver was at the centre of modernist design and experimentation in the interna- tional and West Coast styles. Coun. Rod Day said West Vancouver architecture during the period studied epitomized princi- ples he would like to sce return to local design. “There was a sense of neighbor- liness ... homes that related to their communities ... ,” said Day. The houses were usually one or two storeys high, constructed out of natural materials and built to fit into the environment. The survey was conducted as part of the Heritage Advisory Committee's mandate to promote heritage issues in West Vancouver. Council added $10,000 to the $20,000 provided by the British Columbia Heritage Trust to finance the survey. “Anybody carrying more than $10,000 across the border can be stopped and questioned rather severely about it.” “ts it better for me to bounce the odd cheque than carry Canadian money in my pocket?" “Pay with plastic or pay with cheques, but if you're carrying a lot of cush the least you're suspected of is working the underground economy.” “Who would imagine that hon- est coin of the realm could be the mark of Satan?” “Money,” he said, “is the root of all evil.” An inventive turn of phrase. Must use it some time. {t might catch on. 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