Two Vancouver men are being held in custody for their alleged involvement in a series of violent crimes committed against 15 students and staff at the Justice Institute for British Columbia, according to the
National Post.
Although the police were initially uncertain how the crimes were related, a security breach at the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) linked them to the Justice Institute, a New Westminster-based organization that provides training on law enforcement and criminal justice.
The attacks began as seven arsons in a two-week span in April 2011, and continued with more arsons and shootings until January 2012.
Since the investigation is still pending, ICBC cannot provide details on the breach, but police confirmed that someone had accessed the insurer’s database to obtain the victims’ license plate numbers and personal records.
Vinent Eric Gia-Hwa Cheung, deemed the “mastermind” of the operation, once won a $2.4 million Shaughnessy mansion, $60,000 BMW and $25,000 in a B.C. Cancer Foundation Lifestyles Lottery. He now faces 23 criminal charges which include 11 counts of arson on a house, five counts of arson on a vehicle and four shooting violations.
Thurmon Ronley Taffe is also being charged with arson. Both Cheung and Taffe may be affiliated with the United Nations gang, a Vancouver-based rival of Hells Angels.
Some of the Justice Institute victims were home when the alleged vandals poured gasoline on their houses and set them ablaze, but nobody reported any injuries from the attacks. Other victims were not part of the Justice Institute, but parked in its lot because it was near a daycare center, according to the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit-B.C. (CFSEU).
ICBC said that it dismissed the employee in 2011 when it first recognized the breach. It believes that its robust IT policies are what allowed it to catch the fraud in the first place.
“ICBC follows strict privacy and information security policy and procedures. In fact, it was the integrity of our systems that allowed us to uncover this clear breach of ICBC’s policies and procedures by the former employee, who accessed personal information … without ICBC’s consent,” ICBC spokesperson Adam Grossman told the
National Post.
Insurance advocates hope that these atrocities remind brokers of the critical need for cyber security and protection.
“This case underscores the vigilance necessary to protect personal information,”
Insurance Bureau of Canada spokesperson Steve Kee said. “In today’s highly technological world, the protection of personal information is a priority for sectors around the world. Canada’s private property and casualty insurers are no different.”
