In the spring of 2024, a seemingly ordinary knock on a door in Port Moody, British Columbia, shattered a family’s life. Two men posing as Canada Post delivery personnel initiated a terrifying 13-hour ordeal, a meticulously planned home invasion fueled by greed and a thirst for cryptocurrency.
The intruders weren’t after valuables easily seen; they sought access to a digital fortune. Over $2 million in bitcoin became the target, and the family found themselves trapped in a nightmare of escalating violence and psychological torment. This wasn’t a random act, but a calculated assault on a family known for their cryptocurrency investments.
The invaders, a group including a man flown in from Hong Kong, systematically dismantled the family’s sense of safety. The 18-year-old daughter was forced to endure unimaginable horrors, sexually assaulted on camera while her screams were weaponized against her parents. The chilling recordings were used to coerce them into revealing their financial details.
Waterboarding became a brutal tool of interrogation, repeated relentlessly as the father was pushed to the brink of consciousness. Threats of physical harm, including horrific acts of violence, were constant. The mother was bound and gagged, forced to listen to the escalating abuse happening beside her.
The nightmare finally broke with the dawn. The daughter, displaying incredible courage, managed to escape and reach a friend’s home, alerting authorities. Police arrived to a scene of utter devastation: the father, partially unclothed and bound, and the mother, hidden beneath a blanket, both bearing the visible and invisible scars of the attack.
The sentencing of Tsz Wing Boaz Chan, a 35-year-old from Hong Kong, to seven years in prison offered a glimpse into the calculated cruelty of the invasion. Court documents revealed the meticulous planning and the cold-hearted execution of the crime, a plan orchestrated by individuals communicating through voice-altering technology.
Chan admitted to break and enter, unlawful confinement, and sexual assault, but investigators believe he was part of a larger network, with other perpetrators still at large. His arrival in Canada just weeks before the attack, and subsequent attempt to re-enter the country after the crime, painted a picture of a deliberate and pre-meditated operation.
The family had, unknowingly, made themselves a target. The father had openly discussed his cryptocurrency success within the Chinese community, attracting the attention of those who saw an opportunity for illicit gain. This seemingly harmless boasting proved to be a fatal mistake.
The invaders drained the family’s cryptocurrency accounts, stealing approximately US$1.6 million, effectively wiping out their digital wealth. The financial devastation was compounded by the emotional trauma, leaving the family burdened with debt and struggling to rebuild their lives.
Evidence recovered from the scene revealed a sophisticated surveillance operation. Cameras were strategically placed around the home in the days leading up to the invasion, meticulously documenting the family’s movements and routines. Chan was identified through footage from these cameras.
The daughter, still haunted by the attack, now carries a weapon for self-protection, a stark reminder of the violation she endured. The entire family remains deeply scarred, grappling with the long-term psychological effects of the horrific ordeal. Their lives irrevocably altered by a calculated act of greed and violence.
Chan confessed to being offered around $50,000 for his role, a sum ordered as restitution to the victims – a small measure of justice in the face of immeasurable loss. He claimed he initially believed the proposition was a joke, a chilling testament to the casual disregard for human life displayed by those involved.
