UPDATED: ASouth Asian man is accused of racking up millions of dollars in suspicious transactions at several Toronto-area casinos. Branavan Kanapathipillai's more than $4 million deposits and withdrawals over several years raised flags at various casinos, but it wasn't until last fall that a nearly $100,000 cash buy-in was seized in Niagara Falls.

TORONTO - A South Asian is accused of racking up millions of dollars in suspicious transactions at several Toronto-area casinos.

Branavan Kanapathipillai's more than $4 million deposits and withdrawals over several years raised flags at various casinos, but it wasn't until last fall that a nearly $100,000 cash buy-in was seized in Niagara Falls.

Kanapathipillai's buy-ins were a significant portion of the total suspicious transactions reported across Ontario gaming facilities, which roared back from a pandemic low of $116 million to $372 million last year, records show.

Kanapathapillai’s apparent ease in depositing and withdrawing millions over the span of years shows that while casinos are reporting the transactions, those reports aren’t being acted on fast enough, said retired RCMP money laundering specialist Garry Clement.

 “It’s a terrible thing to say, but it’s open season for individuals like this,” Clement said in an interview this week, saying that casinos need to do more than file reports — they must also take steps to keep the individual out.

Kanapathipillai is not charged with any crime in relation to these transactions, and could not be reached by CTV News Toronto. He didn’t show up at a Newmarket courthouse this week (in early May) to lay claim to the cash seized from him during a buy-in at Niagara Fallsview Casino last fall, a sign that Ontario authorities may keep that money.

But later his lawyer James Foy told CTV News that Kanapathipillai plans to contest application to seize his money. That was back in May and there is no update on the case that he has in fact done that.

That buy-in was flagged by the cashier as a suspicious transaction. Kanapathipillai claimed he was gambling with the proceeds of a third mortgage.

The OPP instead seized the cash, the documents say, alleging he was in league with a loan shark. Officers alleged in court that Kanapathipillai had multiple driver licenses, bank accounts, and aliases, and a two-decade history of fraud and other convictions, reported CTV News.

An affidavit filed in court indicated that the $100,000 may have been the tip of the iceberg, mapping hundreds of transaction reports at casinos or banks connected to him in the past 12 years adding up to $11 million.

Among them was a $182,000 deposit at Fallsview Casino in 2015. In 2016, Kanapathipillai presented $80,000 at Casino Rama, separated into eight bundles worth $10,000 each, the documents say.

 “Records obtained from a production order relating to Kanapathipillai’s TD Bank accounts indicate a history of Kanapathipillai depositing a large amount into his account and then making multiple cash withdraws via both the teller and the ABM,” the affidavit says.

"His withdrawal and financial transaction patterns were consistent with money laundering techniques that I have observed as an investigator," wrote Det. Constable Vic Jetvic in the affidavit, reported CTV News.