A Burnaby company has lost its case against ICBC because a judge didn't believe its brand-new leased pickup trucks were being used to deliver paper supplies before they both went up in flames under suspicious circumstances two years ago.
Media West Zny Inc., owned by 24-year-old Nour-Eddine Zouaoui, sued ICBC because the provincial insurer refused to cover its insurance claim for two leased 2022 Dodge Ram pickups destroyed by fire, one grey and one white, according to a B.C. Supreme Court ruling last Wednesday (April 17).
The grey one was found engulfed in flames on March 28, 2022 at the corner Jones Avenue and 18th Street in North Vancouver.
Three days later, on March 31, the white one was found on fire in West Vancouver.
Zouaoui told ICBC the vehicles had been stolen.
But ICBC argued it shouldn't have to cover the claim because Zouaoui had failed to prove the trucks had been stolen "in circumstances unknown" to him and because he had lied when he applied for the insurance.
For one thing, Zouaoui had told ICBC the trucks had been leased for use in a paper delivery business.
'Yawning void of documentary evidence'
The paper delivery claim would be Zouaoui's undoing in the case.
"The Court is not able to declare precisely what the plaintiff was doing with the vehicles. But whatever it was, it is clear that it was not the paper delivery business asserted by Mr. Zouaoui,"Justice Ward Branch concluded in his ruling.
Branch pointed to a "yawning void of documentary evidence."
"To summarize, the plaintiff did not produce…a single scrap of paper (pun intended), or any electronic records, reflecting the operation of this business; or a single customer, employee, driver, or supplier witness," Branch said.
Zouaoui said he couldn't provide more information about his company because he kept his paper records in the now burned-out trucks and his electronic records were unavailable because he often got new iPhones and laptops but couldn't migrate his data to the new devices, either because he had lost his recovery email and password (iPhones) or didn't know how (laptops).
Branch was unconvinced.
"Mr. Zouaoui is in his early 20s, making him a child of the disposable electronics generation who could reasonably be expected to know better," Branch said.
Branch also said there was a "distinct lack of logic or common sense" in some of Zouaoui's claims, including the claim the open-back pickup trucks were being used as delivery vehicles.
"Mr. Zouaoui suggested that he was going to keep the paper in the cab. If he received larger orders, he was planning to use the cabs of both vehicles," Branch noted.
Branch ultimately ruled Zouaoui had misrepresented the nature of his business to ICBC, thereby negating the insurance coverage.
Branch concluded the evidence (and lack of evidence) pointed to a business Zouaoui "wants to avoid ICBC or the court knowing about."
"I conclude that the lack of documents, personal recall, and witnesses was not accidental or unfortunate, but intentional," Branch said.
"The Court is left in a position where the most logical inference is that the plaintiff was using the cover story about the existence of a paper delivery business to hide something else."
Thefts
As for whether the trucks had really been stolen without Zouaoui's knowledge before they went up in flames on the North Shore, Branch said Zouaoui had proven it was "more likely than not" he didn’t orchestrate the thefts.
The trucks had been parked at the Neville Street home of Justin Rao when they went missing.
"Mr. Zouaoui was very vague about how he met Mr. Rao, stating only that it was at a business meeting held at a 'hotel or hall,'" Branch said. "Nonetheless, he had sufficient confidence in Mr. Rao that he was prepared to leave the vehicles with him along with a second set of keys."
When Zouaoui reported the destruction of the trucks to ICBC, he described Rao as Media West Zny's "business manager" or "fleet manager."
During his examination under oath later on, however, he clarified his company didn't actually have a "fleet manager" and was just renting parking space from Rao.
Pointing to numerous problems and inconsistencies in his evidence, Branch said Zouaoui was "neither reliable nor credible" as a witness but concluded there was enough evidence not dependent on him to support his claim he was not involved in the thefts.
For one thing, when the trucks went up in flames, Zouaoui was in Montreal visiting his brother for Ramadan – though he initially left out the fact his brother was in prison for murder and he only stayed for one day of Ramadan.
Branch also noted there was no evidence Zouaoui’s company would benefit financial from the thefts.
"In summary, notwithstanding Mr. Zouaoui's credibility problems and the presence of certain suspicious circumstances, I find that the plaintiff has done enough to demonstrate on a balance of probabilities that the vehicles were stolen," Branch wrote.
Arson investigations closed
Police investigated both truck fires as suspicious.
(Branch's ruling notes police found a milk jug containing liquid that smelled like gasoline in the grey truck found in North Vancouver.)
But both investigations, one by North Vancouver RCMP and the other by the West Vancouver Police Department are now closed and no charges were ever approved against Zouaoui, Rao or anyone else.
North Vancouver RCMP told the NOW its investigation was closed "due to lack of evidence."
Follow Cornelia Naylor on X/Twitter @CorNaylor
Email [email protected]
