Chinese National Jailed 11 Years for £5B Ponzi Scheme

A Chinese national has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for masterminding a Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 128,000 victims in China and led to the largest cryptocurrency seizure in British history, valued at more than 5 billion pounds. Zhimin Qian, 47, received 11 years and eight months at Southwark Crown Court after pleading guilty to money laundering and possessing and transferring criminal property. Her accomplice, Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling, 47, was jailed for four years and 11 months for transferring criminal property.

The fraud unfolded between 2014 and 2017 through Qian's company, Lantian Gerui, which promised investors high returns on health products and cryptocurrency mining. Prosecutors described it as an elaborate pyramid scheme that targeted retirees and ordinary savers, using patriotic appeals and false endorsements to lure funds equivalent to about 40 billion yuan. Qian fled China in 2017 using a false St Kitts and Nevis passport, arriving in the UK where she converted the proceeds into Bitcoin and began laundering them.

In Britain, Qian lived a luxurious life under aliases, including Yadi Zhang, renting a 17,000-pound-a-month mansion in...