Port Moody horror: Family waterboarded, daughter sexually assaulted in crypto home invasion

A Hong Kong man was sentenced to seven years in jail for his role in a violent Port Moody home invasion where a family was waterboarded, tortured, and their teenage daughter sexually assaulted during a cryptocurrency robbery.

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The horrifying details were released in a recent Provincial Court judgment.

Tsz Wing Boaz Chan pleaded guilty to break and enter to commit robbery, unlawful confinement and sexual assault in connection with the April 27–28, 2024, attack. The judgment describes a highly organized home invasion that lasted about 13.5 hours and drained roughly $1.6 million in cryptocurrency from the victims’ accounts.

Men gain entry into home.

According to the court documents, the incident began around 6:30 p.m. when the mother, M.Y., answered a knock at the door. Two Asian men dressed in Canada Post-style uniforms and medical masks stood outside, carrying a box and an electronic signature pad, and asked for her husband, W.G.  As the couple’s teenage daughter, E.G., went upstairs to get her father, the two impostors stepped into the house and closed the door.

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When the family returned to the foyer, two more masked men entered. The four intruders forced the family to the ground, pushed their heads down and bound their wrists with zip straps. They wore gloves and spoke in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, referring to each other by numbers.

The men seized the family’s phones and laptops and demanded PINs and passwords, threatening to cut or kill them if they did not comply. W.G. was repeatedly punched in the head, face and chest, and a firearm or imitation firearm was pointed at him. The family was then forced to the basement and separated.

The mother and daughter were initially taken to a theatre room, where E.G.’s eyes were covered with a mask and duct tape and a towel was pushed into her mouth, making it difficult for her to breathe. The attackers told the teen they would cut her with a knife if she did not follow orders and pressed something metallic against her face. From nearby, she could hear her father being beaten and her mother being questioned about cryptocurrency.

The judgment notes that the men appeared to know extensive details about the family’s property and digital assets. W.G. was an active cryptocurrency investor, and the intruders demanded access to his and his wife’s accounts, initially insisting on 200 bitcoins, later lowering that demand to 100.

Torture and sexual violence

At one point, E.G. was brought into the room where her father was held and instructed by a man on the phone, using a voice filter, to pretend she was being assaulted so her father would hear her screams. She was later taken to a bathroom and told to fake sexual assault noises or the men would “actually touch her,” the court said. The intruders then forced the teen to strip naked and recorded a series of degrading videos.

One of the men held a gun while they ordered her to open her legs and touch her genitals, making explicit statements into the camera. Her passport was placed beside her so her identity was clearly visible. She was told that if the family went to the police, the videos would be sent to her friends, their parents and posted on social media. After the recordings, E.G. was allowed to dress and was eventually taken upstairs to her brother’s room, wrapped tightly in a blanket and secured with zap straps.

The men periodically checked on her.

Waterboarding and beatings

Meanwhile, W.G.  was held blindfolded in a basement bedroom. The court found he was stripped naked and waterboarded several times. The men also waterboarded M.Y. when she was brought into the same room, telling W.G. that his wife would die if he did not give them passwords.

He was beaten repeatedly with an object, sustaining extensive bruising and muscle damage. Overnight, the attackers made multiple withdrawals from the couple’s cryptocurrency accounts, ultimately stealing about $1.6 million USD and effectively emptying their holdings. The family’s electronics were later found submerged in a bathtub filled with water and bleach.

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In the morning, E.G. managed to wriggle free from the blanket and zap straps, though her wrists remained bound. As she moved through the upper floor, she saw electronics soaking in the bathtub. She found her mother upstairs, blindfolded and gagged with duct tape and wrapped in a blanket. E.G. removed the tape from her mother’s mouth and cut some of the bindings before fleeing out the back door. She ran to several nearby homes but got no answer. Around 8 a.m., she reached a friend’s house, where she called 911.

Port Moody officers arrived and found W.G. emerging from the home naked from the waist down with his hands restrained behind his back. M.Y. was discovered upstairs, bound, blindfolded and gagged. All three were taken to the hospital.

Medical records cited in the judgment show E.G. had bruised wrists and soft tissue tenderness. W.G. suffered extensive soft tissue injuries, significant leg trauma and a serious muscle breakdown condition. A search of the home uncovered a duffel bag with a replica airsoft pistol, a knife and other items, as well as uniforms, zap straps, duct tape, bleach, surveillance cameras and weapons, including bear spray and collapsible batons.

Police investigation

Neighbourhood CCTV showed a white Honda Odyssey arriving near the home shortly before the attack and returning with four men, including Chan, approaching the house. Footage from the next morning showed three men, including Chan, leaving the home.

Police traced the van to a Richmond dealership, where records showed Chan had rented it shortly before the attack and returned it the morning after. DNA collected on items left in the foyer matched Chan. Chan, 35, was arrested at Vancouver International Airport on July 25, 2024, upon his return to Canada from Hong Kong.

In his reasons for the sentence, Judge R. McQuillan called the incident an elaborately planned, violent home invasion motivated by greed and said denunciation and deterrence had to be “at the forefront” of the sentence. Chan received a global seven-year sentence for break and enter, unlawful confinement and sexual assault, to be served concurrently, with credit for time already spent in custody. The court also imposed a 10-year weapons ban, a DNA order, a no-contact order with the family and a $50,000 restitution order.

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