A Chinese woman named Qian Zhimin was just sentenced to more than 11 years in a UK prison for laundering billions of dollars through Bitcoin after running a huge Ponzi scheme back in China. She basically scammed around 130,000 people out of their money between 2014 and 2017 through her company called Lantian Gerui.
British police seized over 61,000 Bitcoin from her, which is now worth more than $6 billion, making it one of the biggest crypto seizures ever. Qian actually cried in court when the judge handed down the sentence, saying she was driven by pure greed.
After Chinese police tried arresting her back in 2017, she managed to escape and fled through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia before ending up in London using a fake passport. She spent millions on jewelry and luxury stuff trying to convert the stolen Bitcoin into cash.
Police first found her back in 2018 but didn’t actually arrest her until April 2024, when they tracked her down to a place in York. Her helper Wen Jian got convicted last year for helping with the laundering, and another guy named Ling Seng Hok, who replaced Wen, also got nearly 5 years.
There’s still a big legal fight coming over what happens to all that seized Bitcoin and how the fraud victims will get compensated.
Conclusion
Qian Zhimin’s conviction marks one of the UK’s largest crypto crime cases, highlighting global challenges in tracing digital assets and ensuring justice for thousands of defrauded victims seeking compensation.
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