A Chinese woman has been convicted in connection with what authorities have described as the world’s largest bitcoin seizure.
A Chinese woman has been convicted in the United Kingdom over what authorities describe as the world’s largest single cryptocurrency seizure, worth more than £5.5 billion.
Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday, September 29, to charges of acquiring and holding vast sums of illegally obtained money that were converted into bitcoin.
According to the Metropolitan Police, the 47-year-old orchestrated a massive fraud scheme in China between 2014 and 2017, defrauding over 128,000 victims. Investigators have so far seized at least 61,000 bitcoin wallets linked to the operation.
“Between 2014–2017, Zhang orchestrated a large-scale fraud in China through defrauding over 128,000 victims and went on to store the illegally obtained funds in bitcoin assets,” the Met said in a statement.
After fleeing China using false papers, Qian entered the UK in September 2018. Police said she attempted to launder the stolen money by investing in property with the help of an accomplice, Jian Wen.
Her arrest ended a seven-year international investigation that spanned multiple jurisdictions and required the review of thousands of documents. Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the probe, described the outcome as the result of “years of painstaking work.”
“When our team located Zhimin Qian, she had been evading justice for five years, and her arrest triggered a complex investigation requiring evidence from multiple jurisdictions and the careful review of thousands of documents,” she said.
Will Lyne, head of the Met’s Economic and Cybercrime Command, added: “This is one of the largest money laundering cases in UK history and among the highest-value cryptocurrency cases globally.”
Wen, a 44-year-old former takeaway worker, was jailed last year for six years and eight months for her role in helping Qian launder the proceeds. Prosecutors said Wen’s sudden move from living above a restaurant to a multimillion-pound rented house in London, along with purchases including Dubai properties worth over £500,000, raised suspicion. Investigators later linked her to cryptocurrency transactions worth more than £300m.
According to the Crown Prosecution Service, “Met investigators proved she had been involved in facilitating the movement of a cryptocurrency wallet, which contained 150 bitcoin. At the relevant time this was valued at £1.7m.”
Qian remains in custody while she awaits sentencing.
