Summary
A Chinese woman named Zhimin Qian was convicted in the UK for her role in a huge cryptocurrency scam involving bitcoin worth more than £5.5 billion. Between 2014 and 2017, she defrauded over 128,000 victims in China and later laundered the stolen money in the UK. The case involved a complex investigation with multiple countries cooperating.
Key Facts
- Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, was convicted in London for a cryptocurrency scam.
- She was responsible for illegally acquiring and holding bitcoin valued at over £5.5 billion.
- The scam took place from 2014 to 2017 and involved over 128,000 victims in China.
- Qian was on the run for five years before her arrest in the UK.
- She used fake documents to leave China and entered the UK to launder the funds.
- Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto led a seven-year investigation involving multiple jurisdictions.
- Her accomplice, Jian Wen, was previously jailed for his role in the scheme.
- Authorities seized this as the largest cryptocurrency confiscation in the UK and aim to prevent the fraudsters from accessing the funds.
