London’s Metropolitan Police has secured a “landmark conviction” following a record-busting Bitcoin seizure and seven-year investigation.
Zhimin Qian, 47, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday to two offences of acquiring and possessing criminal property under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
Zhimin Qian. Image courtesy of the Metropolitan Police
“Today marks the result of years of painstaking work,” said Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the investigation. “When our team located Zhimin Qian, she had been evading justice for five years, and her arrest triggered a complex investigation requiring evidence from multiple jurisdictions and the careful review of thousands of documents.
“Today’s plea reflects years of hard work across both the UK and China. We are grateful for the support of the National Crime Agency and the Crown Prosecution Service, and to Chinese law enforcement teams in Tianjin and Beijing with whom we have collaborated throughout.”
The Met launched its investigation into Qian in 2018 after she entered the UK illegally using false documents.
She carried out what the police describe as a “large-scale fraud in China” between 2014 and 2017, and then attempted to launder the significant proceeds after arriving in the UK.
The three-year fraud affected more than 128,000 people and netted Qian 61,000 Bitcoin, which at current prices is worth more than £5.5 billion ($7.4 billion).
At the point the crypto tokens were seized, they would have been worth around $404 million.
Qian attempted to launder the proceeds with Jian Wen, 44, by buying property, and the Met jailed Wen last year for playing a role in the laundering operation.
In 2019, Wen traveled to Dubai where she purchased two properties worth more than £500,000 ($672,000), as part of the laundering plan.
Described as a former takeaway worker who lived above a restaurant before moving to a multimillion-pound rented house in an affluent area of London, Wen was caught moving a crypto wallet containing 150 Bitcoin associated with the fraud.
At the time, these were valued at £1.7 million ($2.2 million), or £12.5 million ($17.1 million) at today’s prices.
After being unable to prove where the tokens came from, and denying knowledge that the Bitcoin was derived from criminality, Wen was sentenced to the same prison time as Qian – six years and eight months.
She was additionally ordered to pay back more than £3.1 million ($4.1 million) within three months or face seven years added to her sentence.
The Crown Prosecution Service said Wen benefited by £3.5 million (c $4.7 million) from the fraud, led by Qian, and the £3.1 million figure was the total sum of her available assets at the time.
The Register asked the Metropolitan Police for additional information. ®