The B.C. government is seeking to take what value it can out of five of 13 high-performance vehicles seized in an alleged street-racing incident last month.
In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver, the five vehicles are identified as two Lamborghinis, an Aston Martin, a Mercedes and a Nissan GTR.
On Aug. 31, the drivers of the vehicles met at Landsdowne Centre in Richmond and conspired to engage in street racing while they drove to South Surrey, on Highway 99, says the suit.
The drivers unsafely cut in and out of traffic and street raced at speeds in excess of 180 to 200 km/h, it says.
The director of civil forfeiture wants all of the defendants' interests in the vehicles to be forfeited and an order that the vehicles be disposed of by public auction or some other manner to realize the greatest value of the vehicles.
"The director says that the manner in which the high-performance vehicles were operated by the drivers . . . was likely to cause serious bodily harm to motorists using the highway and thus these vehicles constitute instruments of unlawful activity."
Following the incident, RCMP said there was not enough information to proceed with criminal charges.
Police said they were referring the case to the director for possible forfeiture action.
Xiu Bo Wang, a resident of Richmond, is identified in the suit as the registered owner of the Nissan GTR.
Zhang Hong Ma, also of Richmond, is said to be the owner of a blue Lamborghini.
Yin Chung Wang of Richmond is the owner of a white Mercedes and is the mother of Xio Qiang Zhang, the driver of the vehicle, says the suit.
Dan Na Zhu, also known as Danna Zhu, a resident of Richmond, is said to be the owner of the Aston Martin.
A defendant identified only as "John Doe 1" because he is a minor, is the owner of an orange Lamborghini. John Doe 1 lives in Vancouver.
A minor identified only as John Doe 2, also a resident of Vancouver, was the driver of the orange Lamborghini. The minors cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, says the writ.
No response has been filed to the notice of claim. The allegations have not been proven in court.
