Chinese fraudster Zhimin Qian and her accomplice have been jailed following what UK cop’s are calling the largest-ever cryptocurrency seizure after more than £5billion in Bitcoin were taken
This is the moment a Chinese fraudster was arrested in her bed after masterminding a scam which led UK police to make their largest-ever cryptocurrency seizure of more than £5 billion in Bitcoin.
Billionaire ‘Bitcoin Queen,’ Zhimin Qian, 47, was today jailed at Southwark Crown Court for 11 years and eight months. Bodycam footage shows officers storming into her bedroom as she tries to shield herself with clothing and ask for her glasses.
An officer asks her if she speaks English and she stutters: I need help.” An officer tells her to take a deep breath as he goes on to arrest her. Six years earlier, Qian was similarly lying in bed when police first encountered her in October 2018 while searching a property connected to money laundering.
But she managed to give police the slip after providing officers with a fake name and pretending to be bedbound, suffering from a brain and leg injury.
Qian called herself the ‘Goddess of Wealth’, but the loyal servants who helped her hide in Britain knew her simply as the ‘Lady Boss’.
The fraudster was sentenced for money laundering and possessing and transferring criminal property after pleading guilty in September. Qian, a Chinese national, had defrauded more than 128,000 victims through a scheme in China between 2014 and 2017, storing the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets.
She had stored the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets and spent years evading UK police by sightseeing across Europe, staying in upmarket hotels, and living a life of “luxury.”
She was sentenced alongside her accomplice Seng Hok Ling, 47, who was jailed at the same court for four years and 11 months after he pleaded guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.
The sentencing hearing was told that Qian travelled “extensively” throughout Europe in the months and years that followed, staying in expensive hotels and sightseeing.
It was heard that during these trips, “Bitcoin was transferred and sold in exchange for cash, fine jewellery bought and property in Europe considered for purchase”.
In one trip, Qian and Wen spent £119,200 purchasing two watches at a jewellery shop in Zurich, Switzerland.
In 2018, Qian attempted to purchase a £12.5 million property in London and after suspicions were raised over her Bitcoin, UK authorities were notified.
The court heard that in a later discovery officers found documents recording Qian’s “aspirations and intentions”.
The court heard that one of these detailed her intention to become the “monarch of Liberland”, which is a “self-proclaimed country” consisting of a strip of land between Croatia and Serbia.
Following the sentencing of Qian, the Metropolitan Police’s head of economic and cybercrime command Will Lyne said the investigation was one of the “largest and most complex” the force had ever undertaken.
He said: “This outcome is the result of seven years of dedicated investigation by specialist teams from across the Met.
“There is no doubt this is one of the largest and most complex economic crime investigations we have ever undertaken, and today’s sentence would not have been possible without working closely with our partners from the Crown Prosecution Service, National Crime Agency and Chinese law enforcement.
“Organised crime groups are using cryptocurrency to move, hide and invest the profits of serious crime – but every crypto transaction leaves a trace and the Met works meticulously with partners to follow that digital trail, identify assets and bring offenders to justice.
“Our message is clear – criminal assets are not safe in the UK. The Met remains committed to protecting the public and this outcome shows the lengths we will go to secure justice for victims.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Cryptocurrency fraud is worth billions, fuels international money laundering and props up organised criminal gangs, so I welcome this significant intervention by the Met.
“It’s vital all our law enforcement agencies work closely and effectively against all those intent on misusing virtual currency for illegal activity.
“I encourage all Londoners impacted to follow the Met’s key crime prevention advice, stay vigilant online and report any illegal or suspicious activity online to Action Fraud to help build a safer London for all.”
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