A Chinese national pleaded guilty to illegally acquiring and possessing the cryptocurrency, worth more than £5 billion ($6.7 billion). Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, led a large-scale scam in China by cheating more than 1,28,000 victims and storing the stolen funds in bitcoin assets between 2014-2017, the Met Police said in a statement, as per BBC. The Met said that the 47-year-old’s guilty plea followed a seven-year probe into a global money laundering web. A total of 61,000 bitcoins were seized from Qian, the Met reported. Police said the probe began in 2018 after receiving a tip-off about the transfer of criminal assets. Qian had been “evading justice” for five years up to her arrest, necessitating a complex investigation involving multiple jurisdictions, said Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the Met’s investigation. She fled China using false documents and entered the UK, where she attempted to launder the stolen money by purchasing property, the Met stated. Qian received assistance from a Chinese takeaway worker named Jian Wen, who was jailed for six years and eight months last year for her role in the criminal operation. Wen, 44, laundered the proceeds from the scam and moved from living above a restaurant to a “multi-crore rented house” in North London, according to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) earlier this year. She also purchased two properties in Dubai worth more than £500,000, the CPS reported. The Met said it seized more than £300m worth of bitcoin from Wen. Wen claimed that she bought the properties for an employer from China. However, the CPS stated that the large amount of bitcoin and lack of evidence regarding its acquisition indicated it was from a criminal source. Chinese media outlet Lifeweek reported in 2024 that investors, mostly between 50 and 75 years old, had poured “hundreds of thousands to tens of millions” of yuan into investments promoted by Qian. The schemes capitalised on cryptocurrency’s popularity in China at the time, promising daily dividends and guaranteed profits, according to Lifeweek. Qian’s company claimed it would help China become a hub for finance and technology and showcased projects and investments it said it had across the country. Some of the victims—including business people, bank employees and members of the judiciary—were reportedly urged to invest in Qian’s scheme by friends and family. The investors reportedly knew little about Qian, who was described as “the goddess of wealth.” “Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets, so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct,” said Deputy Chief Crown Prosecutor Robin Weyell. “This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters,” Weyell added. Monday’s conviction marked the “culmination of years of dedicated investigation”, which involved the police and Chinese law enforcement teams, said Will Lyne, the Met’s Head of Economic and Cybercrime Command. The Met stated the investigation is still ongoing. The CPS is working to ensure the fraudsters do not get hold of the stolen funds, the Met reported. Many of the victims had some of their money returned to them by a compensation scheme established in China, the CPS said last year. Qian is being held in custody ahead of sentencing. The date of her sentencing has yet to be fixed.
