Jeweller failed to report suspicious transactions, will pay $264K penalty, FINTRAC says

Spence Diamonds' Vancouver store is seen in this photo from the company's website. (spencediamonds.com)

A Canadian jeweller that specializes in wedding rings has been ordered to pay a six-figure penalty for failing to follow federal anti-money-laundering rules.

Spence Diamonds, which has stores in B.C., Alberta and Ontario, will pay an administrative monetary penalty of $264,000, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) announced in a statement Tuesday.

The penalty was imposed on May 8, and stemmed from five instances of non-compliance with Part 1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its associated regulations.

The violations were discovered during a compliance examination, FINTRAC said.

The most significant violation — deemed “very serious” by FINTRAC — involved the jeweller’s failure to submit suspicious transaction reports in “one or more” cases where there were reasonable grounds to suspect the client may have been attempting to commit an offence.

“FINTRAC’s examination identified transactions that were conducted and attempted by clients where numerous money laundering and terrorist financing indicators were present,” the agency’s statement reads.

“These indicators included a customer conducting transactions at different locations or approaching different employees; the individual using a payment card that appeared to be altered or stolen; and the individual not wanting to buy or sell face-to-face and appeared nervous about information related to their identification.”

The other four violations for which Spence was penalized involved documentation and training policies and procedures, all of which FINTRAC deemed “serious” issues.

These violations included failing to “develop and apply written compliance policies and procedures,” failing to “assess and document the risk of a money laundering or terrorist financing offence,” failing to “develop and maintain a written ongoing compliance training program” and failing to “institute and document the prescribed review” of its compliance program.

According to FINTRAC, Spence “will pay the administrative monetary penalty in full” and proceedings against the company have ended.

In its 2024-25 reporting year, FINTRAC issued 23 notices of violation to businesses across the country, the largest number of such notices it has issued in a single year. Alongside those notices, the agency imposed a total of more than $25 million in penalties.