A Chinese language lady who orchestrated a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme and laundered a lot of the proceeds into cryptocurrency was jailed in the UK on Tuesday for 11 years and eight months, in line with Reuters reporting.
Zhimin Qian, 47, nicknamed the “goddess of wealth,” admitted to 2 expenses of buying and possessing felony property.
Qian ran the Lantian Gerui funding firm between 2014 and 2017, defrauding round 128,000 traders in China of roughly 40 billion renminbi ($5.62 billion). Prosecutors stated about 6 billion renminbi ($845 million) was siphoned off and transformed into bitcoin.
Throughout the course of a multiyear investigation, British authorities seized over 61,000 bitcoin—value greater than $6 billion at present—marking one of many largest cryptocurrency seizures ever recorded in Europe.
Bitcoin fraud particulars
The court docket heard that Qian fled China in 2017, touring by way of Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Malaysia, earlier than arriving within the UK on a St Kitts and Nevis passport.
She tried to transform the bitcoin into money, usually utilizing accomplices to buy luxurious items, together with jewellery and watches, whereas staying in high-end resorts throughout Europe. British authorities first encountered Qian in 2018 throughout a property buy in London, however she evaded seize for six years.
She was finally arrested in York, northern England, in April 2024 following a police investigation into her confederate Ling Seng Hok, who had been transferring bitcoin linked to the scheme.
Qian’s accomplices had been additionally sentenced. Wen Jian, who helped convert the bitcoin into money and luxurious items, was jailed final yr, whereas Ling acquired practically 5 years in jail after pleading responsible to cash laundering.
Prosecutors stated the case ranks as one of many largest money-laundering instances in UK historical past by worth and entails the most important confirmed seizure of felony property in Europe.
At sentencing, Decide Sally-Ann Hales described Qian because the “architect” of the scheme, pushed by “pure greed.” Prosecutors highlighted that some victims misplaced their life financial savings, properties, and even marriages.
Whereas felony proceedings are full, a civil restoration course of in London’s Excessive Court docket is ongoing, exploring compensation for greater than 1,300 victims who’ve come ahead.
Qian’s legal professionals argued that she by no means supposed to defraud anybody and that bitcoin’s huge appreciation—rising from round $3,600 in 2018 to roughly $100,000 at present—may enable restitution to exceed the unique losses. A spokesperson for London police confirmed that British and Chinese language authorities are cooperating on cross-border fugitive and asset restoration.