UK Metropolitan police | File photo by AP
The United Kingdom (UK) Metropolitan Police have convicted two Chinese nationals for their roles in a multibillion-pound sterling fraudulent Bitcoin scheme after a seven-year investigation.
The bitcoin valued at over £5.5 billion is believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world.
Zhimin Qian, 47, pleaded guilty on Monday to acquiring and possessing cryptocurrency criminally.
On Tuesday, Hok Seng Ling, 46, Qian’s partner, pleaded guilty to transferring crypto illegally.
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According to the met police, Qian played a leading role in the scam.
Between 2014 and 2017, she 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.
She then fled China using false documents and entered the UK, where in September 2018 she attempted to launder the proceeds via purchasing property.
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In China, Qian was known as “the goddess of wealth”.
Investors were said to have poured “hundreds of thousands to tens of millions” of yuan into investments she promoted.
The police said they only nabbed Qian by monitoring Ling, as she had tactfully evaded arrest.
They were arrested in April 2024, where seized assets included encrypted devices, cash, gold, and further cryptocurrency.
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Will Lyne, the met police head of economic and cybercrime command, said Chinese law enforcement offered “unprecedented cooperation”.
Dan Jarvis, security minister, said the outcome sends a clear signal that the UK will never be a safe haven for criminals and their ill-gotten gains.
Sentencing for Qian and Ling is scheduled to take place on November 10 and 11.
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