A seven-year investigation by the UK’s Metropolitan Police for a multi-billion-pound fraudulent Bitcoin scheme has ended in the conviction of a 47-year-old Chinese woman.
On September 29, at the Southwark Crown Court, Zhimin Qian, a Chinese woman with no fixed address, pleaded guilty to two offenses under the Proceeds of Crime Act (2002). These offenses involve acquiring and possessing criminal property, specifically cryptocurrency.
According to the statement released by the Met Police Department, 61,000 Bitcoin (BTC) were confiscated from Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang. This is the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world by the Met Police, worth, at this time, more than £5.5 billion.
The investigation started in 2018 after the police got information about the transfer of criminal assets. Zhang first ran a huge scam in China from 2014 to 2017, stealing money from more than 128,000 people and then storing it in Bitcoin assets. She then left China with fake documents and went to the UK. There, in September 2018, she tried to launder the money by buying property with the help of an attacker named Jian Wen.
“Today marks the result of years of painstaking work. 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,” said Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the Met’s investigation. “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.”
Jian Wen was also sent to jail last year for her part in the crime as part of the same investigation led by the Met’s specialist economic crime officers. Met investigators showed that she helped move a cryptocurrency wallet that held 150 BTC. At the time in question, this was worth £1.7 million. In May 2024, Southwark Crown Court gave her a six-year and eight-month prison sentence.
UK becoming a boiling pot for crypto crimes
The UK Police is tightening its grip when it comes to crypto-related crimes. Last month, a scammer posed as a senior UK police officer and stole Bitcoin (BTC) worth approximately $2.8 million. The cyber team of the North Wales police stated that this theft was part of an ongoing trend where scammers target cold wallets of long-term cryptocurrency holders. Earlier this year, the UK police also shared an advisory, urging the public to stay vigilant against rising digital crimes.