Chinese 'Cryptoqueen' Sentenced to 11 Years in UK for $6.6 Billion Bitcoin Fraud Scheme

Zhimin Qian escaped to the UK using a fraudulent identity.

London:

A Chinese national who possessed 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) in Bitcoin after defrauding over 128,000 individuals in China through a Ponzi operation received an 11-year prison sentence from a British court on Tuesday.

Authorities reported that the investigation into 47-year-old Zhimin Qian resulted in the recovery of devices containing 61,000 Bitcoin, marking the UK's largest cryptocurrency seizure to date.

Qian, referred to as "cryptoqueen" by UK media outlets, was apprehended in April 2024 following years of evading law enforcement while living an "extravagant" European lifestyle, staying at premium hotels across the continent and acquiring luxury jewelry and timepieces, according to prosecutors.

Investigators stated she operated a pyramid scheme that enticed more than 128,000 people to invest in her enterprise between 2014 and 2017, including numerous individuals who committed their retirement funds and life savings. Officials indicated she stored the illegally acquired funds in Bitcoin assets.

When Chinese authorities began investigating her activities, Qian fled to the UK using false identification. After arriving in London, police reported she leased a "lavish" residence costing over 17,000 pounds ($23,000) monthly.

Investigators discovered notes written by Qian outlining her ambitions – including her "intention to become the monarch of Liberland, a self-proclaimed country consisting of a strip of land between Croatia and Serbia."

The businesswoman, who had admitted to money laundering offenses and transferring and possessing criminal property, received a sentence of 11 years and eight months at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.

She was sentenced alongside her associate Seng Hok Ling, a 47-year-old Malaysian national accused of assisting Qian in transferring and laundering cryptocurrency. Ling received a sentence of four years and eleven months at the same court after pleading guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.