Former ICBC employee linked to Justice Institute attacks

An ICBC employee is under investigation for accessing the personal records of 13 people with ties to the Justice Institute who were victims of bizarre attacks earlier this year.

RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said there have been new attacks since September, bringing the total number of victims to 13 who've been targeted by shootings and arsons, although none has been harmed.

The incidents have occurred throughout Metro Vancouver, but not at the Justice Institute in New Westminster, or any of its other campuses. The Justice Institute trains police, paramedics and other first responders.

On Wednesday, RCMP Chief Supt. Janice Armstrong said ICBC identified a privacy breach as a possible link to the crimes.

"We can now state the investigation revealed a link to an ICBC employee, who allegedly accessed personal information of 65 individuals, including the 13 identified victims. That employee, along with other individuals, is under continued police investigation," Armstrong said.

"ICBC has cooperated fully with the police investigators, assisting us in contacting and warning those whose information was compromised. Additionally, police continue to pursue significant investigative avenues to determine if others could be at risk."

Police are exploring every avenue in their investigation, said Thiessen.

"Whether there's organized crime links or whether it's a disgruntled employee or someone who had a negative interaction at the Justice Institute, none of those have been eliminated at this particular time," said Thiessen.

ICBC 'appalled' at privacy breach

ICBC President Jon Schubert said the employee who is under investigation is a woman who had been at ICBC for 15 years and was fired at the end of August.

"The person in question has had their employment with ICBC terminated with cause and no severance," Schubert said.

"We are appalled that one of our employees inappropriately accessed the information of so many customers without any apparent business reason to do so."

He said ICBC's main concern now is for customers who have suffered as a result of the privacy breach.

"We have conducted a thorough internal and an independent external review of our systems as a result of the privacy breach and have taken steps to better guard against this type of incident from happening again," Schubert said.

Police are in the process of contacting all 65 people whose information was accessed improperly.