Fraudster Behind UK's Largest Bitcoin Seizure Gets 11-Year Jail Sentence

Zhimin Qian has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in jail for orchestrating a pyramid scheme that defrauded over 120,000 Chinese pensioners, leading to the UK’s largest cryptocurrency seizure. Authorities seized 61,000 BTC linked to her fraudulent activities, valued at approximately $6.4 billion. Qian, operating under the guise of a tech entrepreneur, used her company Lantian Gerui to attract significant investments from elderly Chinese individuals through false promises about health products and cryptocurrency mining ventures. After fleeing China in 2017, she lived in luxury in the UK until her arrest in April 2024. The forfeiture of the seized Bitcoin has created disputes over its rightful ownership, between the UK government, Chinese authorities, and the victims of the fraud, complicating the process of restitution. The UK government aims to retain a portion of the Bitcoin to bolster public finances, while advocates for the victims claim ownership of the assets. The resolution of these claims is anticipated to take years.

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