In the latest in a string of violent crypto robberies, a four-person gang held a Canadian family hostage overnight and stole about $2 million CAD ($1.6 million USD) in Bitcoin. The attackers threatened to kill the family, waterboarded the mother and father, and sexually assaulted their daughter after invading their Vancouver-area home.
TL;DR
- Four attackers held a Canadian family hostage, stealing $2 million CAD in Bitcoin.
- The assailants waterboarded the parents and sexually assaulted their daughter.
- The father had bragged about crypto profits, making the family a target.
- Tsz Wing Boaz Chan received a seven-year sentence for his role in the crime.
Last week, a British Columbia judge revealed details of a crime that took place in April 2024, according to a sentencing report by first reported by CBC. Tsz Wing Boaz Chan, a 35-year-old from Hong Kong, admitted to charges of breaking and entering, unlawful confinement, and sexual assault. The court filing did not name the family involved.
“After restraining the family, the men took their cell phones and laptop computers and demanded their PIN numbers and passwords,” wrote the judge. “They threatened to cut the family or kill them if their passwords and PIN numbers were not provided.”
This event aligns with a pattern of physical assaults targeting individuals holding Bitcoin and other digital currencies. Earlier in the year, David Balland, a cofounder of Ledger, a cryptocurrency wallet company based in Paris, had his finger severed by individuals who abducted him and sought a ransom.
By 2024, 24 physical assaults occurred targeting crypto holders. This figure has surged past 60 already in 2025. This data comes from a list assembled by Jameson Lopp, a Bitcoin holder whose residence was targeted in a 2017 raid. Crypto dealings bypass the need for bank involvement in fund retrieval, positioning investors as prime targets for offenders pursuing substantial amounts of cash.
During the evening of April 27, 2024, two individuals arrived at the family's residence in British Columbia. Dressed in Canada Post attire and sporting COVID masks, they gained entry when the daughter opened the door. Subsequently, two additional men joined them, and the group proceeded to confine the three family members within their home, holding them captive until the following morning.
The father had bragged about his cryptocurrency profits to fellow members of the Chinese community, the report states. The four individuals who broke in demanded 200 Bitcoins, a sum valued at approximately $26 million. Subsequently, they reduced their demand to 100 Bitcoins. By the next morning, the intruders had taken roughly $1.6 million from the family's digital currency holdings. The father informed the men that he had overstated his crypto gains and had actually incurred losses due to a scam in 2018.
During the home invasion, the assailants struck, battered, and subjected the father to waterboarding. The mother was also waterboarded, blindfolded, tied up, and gagged. Furthermore, the daughter was sexually assaulted by the intruders, who then recorded multiple videos of her unclothed. They warned that these recordings would be published online should the family report the incident to law enforcement.
Following the assault, the daughter fled the residence and sought refuge at a neighbor's home, from where she contacted law enforcement. All three family individuals were transported to the medical facility for evaluation of their wounds.
Three months after his return to Canada, Chan was apprehended and subsequently received a seven-year prison sentence.