Chinese national pleads guilty after UK bitcoin seizure tied to fraud

A Chinese national pleaded guilty on Monday at Southwark Crown Court to acquiring and possessing criminal property after investigators seized tens of thousands of bitcoins in what police describe as one of the largest cryptocurrency recoveries ever. Zhimin Qian, who also uses the name Yadi Zhang and is 47, admitted the offences and was remanded in custody ahead of a later sentencing hearing. The Metropolitan Police say the case follows a seven year investigation into an international money laundering operation linked to an investment fraud in China.

Prosecutors say Qian ran a fraudulent investment scheme between 2014 and 2017 that defrauded more than 128,000 people. Authorities allege she converted the proceeds into bitcoin and moved to the United Kingdom using false documents, where in 2018 she sought to launder the proceeds by buying property with the assistance of an associate, Jian Wen. Police recovered 61,000 bitcoin from devices seized during searches between 2018 and 2021. Depending on bitcoin’s market price, the holdings have been valued at several billion dollars, with reported estimates ranging from about 5.5 billion to more than 7 billion.