Hong Kong man sentenced in brutal $1.6M crypto heist in BC, family tortured, daughter exploited in 13-hour ordeal

A Hong Kong man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after taking part in a meticulously planned and horrifying home invasion that left a British Columbia family terrorized and $1.6 million in cryptocurrency stolen. Over a brutal 13.5-hour ordeal, the assailants beat, waterboarded, and sexually assaulted the parents, forced their young daughter to simulate sexual abuse on camera, and threatened to post the footage online.

Tsz Wing Boaz Chan was sentenced for what a British Columbia judge described as “an elaborately planned offense” marked by “extreme violence over a very long period, with enormous financial consequences, on top of the profound emotional impact it will continue to have on the victims.”

CCTV footage shows a rented Honda Odyssey pulling up to a Port Moody, BC, home on the evening of April 27 last year at around 5:28 pm, carrying the attackers. The van came back by 6 pm, and four men, Tsz Wing Boaz Chan included, were observed leaving it.


Disguised as Canada Post mailmen, two of the intruders tricked their way into the home, letting the others in. Over the next 13.5 hours, the family endured zip-tying, beatings, waterboarding, sexual assault, and threats, as the attackers drained roughly US$1.6 million from their cryptocurrency holdings.

Court documents indicate the family was targeted because the husband had “boasted and exaggerated” about his cryptocurrency success and was well-known in the local Chinese expat community. Both spouses, whose identities remain anonymous, were subjected to waterboarding, a torture method simulating drowning. At one point, the wife was waterboarded while her husband was forced to watch, with threats that she would die if he did not reveal his account passwords.

The young girl was told by a man using a voice filter over the phone to make noises that would give her father the impression that she was being raped, according to court filings.

She was also made to undress and touch herself while being filmed by the attackers. According to court filings, they then threatened to upload the video to her and her parents' social media accounts.

The husband eventually provided the attackers access to his cryptocurrency accounts, but they demanded 200 bitcoins, saying it was not enough. They later lowered the demand to 100 bitcoins, ultimately withdrawing $1.6 million, effectively draining the family’s accounts, according to court documents.

Around 8 am on April 28, the family’s daughter escaped and called 911 from a friend’s home. CCTV footage captured three of the attackers, including Chan, fleeing in the Honda Odyssey. Police arrived about 30 minutes later to find the parents bound and injured, with WG naked from the waist down and his hands tied behind his back.

The attackers meticulously planned the heist, conducting surveillance and planting cameras to gather detailed information on the family’s cryptocurrency holdings and daily routines. Before fleeing, they attempted to destroy evidence by soaking the family’s electronics in a bathtub of water and bleach, according to court documents.