‘Bitcoin Queen’ Jailed 11 Years for $7.3B Crypto Fraud
▼ Summary
– Zhimin Qian (aka Yadi Zhang) was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in London for laundering Bitcoin from a £5.5 billion investment fraud scheme.
– She masterminded a fraud that defrauded over 128,000 victims in China between 2014 and 2017 by promising high returns of 100%–300%.
– UK authorities seized 61,000 Bitcoin worth £5.5 billion, the largest cryptocurrency seizure in British history.
– Two accomplices, Seng Hok Ling and Jian Wen, received prison sentences of 4 years 11 months and 6 years 8 months respectively for their roles.
– The investigation involved international cooperation and highlighted how organized crime uses cryptocurrency, which leaves traceable digital trails.
The so-called “Bitcoin Queen,” a central figure in a massive international cryptocurrency fraud, has been handed an 11-year and eight-month prison sentence in London for her role in a multi-billion dollar money laundering operation. Zhimin Qian, who also used the alias Yadi Zhang, masterminded a fraudulent investment scheme that deceived more than 128,000 individuals in China, promising them unrealistically high returns. Her elaborate scam, which ran from 2014 to 2017, ultimately led to the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history, with authorities confiscating 61,000 Bitcoin.
Following a painstaking seven-year investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Economic Crime Command, the full scale of the deception became clear. Qian raised an estimated 40 billion yuan from investors by promoting Bitcoin as “digital gold” and guaranteeing profits between 100% and 300 percent. When her fraudulent network inevitably collapsed, she converted the illicit proceeds into Bitcoin, along with cash and jewellery, before fleeing to the United Kingdom under a false identity.
Once in the UK, she began the process of laundering the cryptocurrency with the assistance of associates. Her efforts to convert the digital assets into property and other tangible forms of wealth triggered an intelligence alert in 2018, setting in motion the meticulous police work that would lead to her downfall. The investigation culminated in 2024 with the arrests of Qian and her accomplice, Seng Hok Ling, aged 47 from Derbyshire. Ling received a sentence of four years and 11 months for his part in transferring criminal property.
In a coordinated action, law enforcement seized assets valued at approximately £11 million, which included cryptocurrency wallets, encrypted electronic devices, physical cash, and gold bars. Another individual involved in the laundering network, Jian Wen, was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for her role in facilitating the scheme. The sheer volume of Bitcoin confiscated in this case, now valued at roughly £5.5 billion, surpasses the previous record held by the U.S. Justice Department from its 2022 Bitfinex hack seizure.
Will Lyne, the Met’s Head of Economic and Cybercrime Command, emphasized the complexity of the investigation. He noted that such a significant outcome was only possible through close collaboration with the Crown Prosecution Service, the National Crime Agency, and Chinese law enforcement partners. Lyne also issued a stark warning to other criminal elements, stating that while organized crime groups increasingly use cryptocurrency to conceal and move illicit funds, every digital transaction leaves a permanent and traceable record that investigators can and will follow to bring offenders to justice.
(Source: Bleeping Computer)
