Zhimin Qian, a 47-year-old Chinese national has been sentenced in London to 11 years and eight months in prison for laundering proceeds from a massive fraud operation involving Bitcoin.
Between 2014 and 2017, Qian, known as the ‘Goddess of Wealth,' orchestrated a Ponzi scheme through a company based in Tianjin, north-eastern China.
In this type of fraud, returns for existing investors are paid using funds from new investors.
In the UK, Qian only faced charges relating to the possession and transfer of criminally obtained funds, specifically Bitcoin. She pleaded guilty to these charges.
Authorities seized over 61,000 Bitcoins, valued at more than $6 billion at current rates, from her in what police described as “the largest confirmed cryptocurrency confiscation in the world.”
Qian promised victims returns of up to 300%.
Many of her victims were financially inexperienced and were recruited through word-of-mouth, social media, and public presentations. After the fraud was uncovered in China, she fled the country using a fake passport in 2017 and converted part of her illicit gains into cryptocurrencies.
She travelled across Europe, maintaining a luxurious lifestyle and benefiting from Bitcoin’s rising value. While a single Bitcoin was worth $3,600 in late 2018, its current value has soared to $100,000.
The British judiciary collaborated with Chinese authorities during the investigation.
According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, more than 80 individuals involved in the operation have been convicted in China.
Authorities in London and Beijing are now working on repatriating the funds and suspects connected to the fraud who are currently in the UK.
