A man from Hong Kong has been sentenced to seven years in prison after a Canadian judge convicted him and three accomplices of a violent home invasion where they extorted $1.6 million in Bitcoin from a couple in British Columbia. During the harrowing 13-hour incident, the couple was subjected to sexual assault and torture.
The judge described the crime as meticulously planned, marked by extreme violence that had serious financial and long-lasting emotional repercussions for the victims.
This all transpired on the evening of April 27 last year. The assailants arrived at the victims’ home in Port Moody, British Columbia, around 5:28 p.m., as captured by surveillance cameras, in a rented Honda Odyssey.
By 6 p.m., the same vehicle had returned, and four men, including the convicted individual, emerged from it.
Two of the men, disguised in fake Canada Post uniforms, knocked on the couple’s door, gained entry, and let the others inside.
Once inside, the family was zip-tied, beaten, waterboarded, and threatened throughout the lengthy ordeal, during which the attackers drained their cryptocurrency accounts.
Documents from the court revealed that the criminals targeted the family due to the husband’s boastful remarks about his success in cryptocurrency investment, making him well-known in the local Chinese expatriate community.
The identities of the husband and wife are protected, but both endured waterboarding—a torture method that simulates drowning. At one point, the wife was soaked with water while her husband was compelled to watch and was told to reveal his cryptocurrency password or face severe consequences for his wife.
Furthermore, the husband, referred to in court as “WG,” was stripped of his clothes and beaten, sustaining significant injuries. The attackers even threatened to mutilate him if he didn’t comply with their demands.
Court documents further alleged that they coerced the couple’s young daughter to make disturbing sounds to trick her parents into believing she was being assaulted. They also made her take off her clothes and film the situation, threatening to share it online if the parents didn’t cooperate.
Eventually, the husband agreed to provide access to his crypto account, but the attackers initially wanted 200 Bitcoins. They settled on an amount of 100 Bitcoins but eventually stole $1.6 million in digital assets, almost entirely emptying the couple’s account.
By 8 a.m. on April 28, the daughter managed to flee to a nearby friend’s house and called the police.
Simultaneously, three men, including Chan, were captured on video leaving the area in their vehicle. Authorities arrived about half an hour later for a wellness check and found the parents bound and injured. The husband emerged shirtless, with his hands tied behind his back.
The attackers had meticulously monitored the family prior to the incident, even installing surveillance equipment to gather information about their daily lives and finances.
Before escaping, they attempted to erase evidence by soaking the family’s electronic devices in a mixture of water and bleach.
The newspaper has reached out to Chan’s lawyer for a statement.
