For years, Richmond, B.C., resident Selina She Yin Tsui held herself out as a "holistic healer," diagnosing ailments ranging from tapeworms, gallstones and parasites all the way up to cancer.
In some cases, Tsui allegedly charged tens of thousands of dollars for her "treatments," which included according to a lawsuit filed by the B.C. government against Tsui in August 2010 administering arsenic to one woman to the point of paralysis and cardiac arrest. After telling the victim her diagnosis, said the lawsuit, Tsui warned that treatment would cause "violent vomiting, uncontrollable diarrhea, peeing like a race horse (and) nausea to the extreme."
The lawsuit claims that while carrying out her brand of "healing" work, Tsui had no actual medical training and was never registered with any health profession regulatory body.
And after settling with Tsui in April, the province is now looking for other potential victims who may be eligible for compensation.
Tsui was forced to give up two properties after the province's director of civil forfeiture filed suit in B.C. Supreme Court. Both were "declared instruments and proceeds of unlawful activity" under the province's civil forfeiture laws.
But instead of sounding the alarm about possible health effects, the province quietly published a small public notice in the June 30 edition of the B.C. Gazette, declaring that money was recovered in a settlement agreement in the case against Tsui. The notice states that people who paid Tsui for treatments between December 2000 and January 2009 "may be eligible for compensation."
Tsui's residential address was listed in the August 2010 claim as being on Hollybridge Way in Richmond. She is listed on an Industry Canada corporate registry as a director of the Canadian Taekwondo Commission, which shares the same Richmond address. The commission, according to the registry entry, has three directors, Tsui, Michael Sirota and Ken Froese.
Sirota runs a martial arts school at the same address called Sirota's Alchymy Martial Arts and Life Skills Centre, where two of Tsui's alleged victims identified in the lawsuit, Zahra Haji and Lloyd Lukban, work as instructors.
According to the centre's website, Haji is a "life skills instructor" and Lukban is an "instructor."
Court documents say Tsui diagnosed Lukban in December 2000 with a "lymphadenocyst," described by Tsui as "a degenerated lymph node caused by occlusion of its incoming lymph vessels," the complaint states. "Tsui represented to Lloyd that she could provide Lloyd with treatment for his ailment, and solicited payment of $889 from Lloyd for that treatment."
In the case of Haji, say the documents, Tsui in June 2001 diagnosed her with "'liver gallstones,' parasites, hypothyroidism and hypoglycemia." Reached by email, Haji refused to comment about the case.
Another person named as a victim in the court documents, Emmeline "Kimber" Lee, was allegedly charged substantially more. The claim states that between "March 26, 2002, and May 5, 2003, Lee paid, caused to be paid, or participated in payments to Tsui of $328,940 in U.S. currency and $81,000 in Canadian currency."
In all, the government's complaint identifies 11 people Tsui allegedly treated between December 2002 and May 2003.
Efforts to track down Tsui were unsuccessful. Michael Sirota, who is not named in court documents or accused of any wrongdoing, refused to comment about Tsui's involvement with the Canadian Taekwondo Commission.
"I believe you have your data incorrect," Sirota said. "I believe that you have a lot of misinformation, so I'm not interested in talking to you."
Tsui's former lawyer, Marco von Antal of the law firm Chen and Leung, said he couldn't comment specifically on the case. "It's an interesting case, that's all I can say," he said.
Richmond RCMP Cpl. Tony Bernard would not say whether or not an investigation is ongoing or had even occurred. Emails to instructors and subsequent calls to Sirota's Alchymy were not returned.
The Ministry of Public Safety did not make anyone available for an interview, but stated in an email that the B.C. Gazette entry "stemmed from a concluded RCMP investigation into alleged, prior unlawful activities."
"It is important to note that the civil forfeiture office and the defendant reached an agreement without trial. The allegations in the court documents remain just that unproven allegations," a ministry spokesman stated in the email.
"In this case, the civil forfeiture office has successfully applied its legislation to divest Ms. Tsui of the profits from her alleged unlawful activities, and return it to people who allege she profited by victimizing them."
According to the government's public notice, people have until Oct. 7, to send in an application for compensation.
