UK hands Zhimin Qian 11-year sentence, mastermind in 60K BTC Chinese investment fraud

Zhimin Qian has been sentenced to 11 years and 8 months behind bars after pleading guilty to a money laundering charge. The Met police reported that it seized over 60,000 Bitcoins from the perpetrator of the Chinese investment scam after careful investigation.

Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison for her role in laundering money from a huge investment fraud that defrauded over 128,000 victims in China.

The sentencing took place at Southwark Crown Court following her guilty plea to the charges of possessing illegally obtained cryptocurrency and money laundering.

Chinese investment scam mastermind sentenced

The Metropolitan Police described the seizure of over 60,000 Bitcoins connected to the case as the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history, with an estimated current value of around £4.8 billion ($6.1 billion).

Qian, age 47, led a criminal operation that ran between 2014 and 2017, during which she defrauded victims of approximately £600 million ($762 million) through a fake investment scheme in China. Many victims were reported to have invested their life savings and pensions, unaware that the scheme was fraudulent.

Prosecutors explained that the large amount of Bitcoin seized, along with a lack of any legitimate source for the funds, and the link to the Chinese investment scam, made it clear that the assets were obtained illegally.

After the fraud, Qian converted around £20.2 million ($25.7 million) of the stolen funds into Bitcoin before fleeing to the UK. Once in Britain, she lived a lavish lifestyle and tried to use the cryptocurrency to purchase luxury properties worth millions of pounds, including houses priced at £4.5 million, £12.5 million, and £23.5 million.

Qian found herself unable to complete these transactions because banks and agents flagged issues under anti-money laundering (AML) and “know your customer” (KYC) checks.

Qian later enlisted the help of Seng Hok Ling, a 47-year-old Malaysian national, to help launder and transfer the crypto assets. Ling moved about £2.5 million on her behalf and was later sentenced to four years and eleven months in prison after pleading guilty to a money laundering offense.

Years long investigation by the Met police

Police recovered cash, gold, encrypted devices, and additional cryptocurrency when they arrested Qian and Ling in April 2024, the result of a detailed Met Police surveillance operation that traced Qian to a location in York.

“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets,” Neil Colville, Head Prosecutor in the Serious Economic Organised Crime and International Directorate (CPS), said. “This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters.”

He confirmed that the CPS will now pursue criminal confiscation and civil proceedings to ensure Qian’s seized cryptocurrency and other assets remain permanently out of her reach.

Attorney General Lord Hermer KC described the crime as “destructive and devastating.”

“Together, Zhimin Qian and Senghok Ling caused misery upon thousands of victims to fund their lavish lifestyles,” Lord Hermer said. “Thanks to the close partnership between the Met and the CPS, they have secured convictions and seized substantial amounts of cryptocurrency, preventing more victims from coming to harm.”

“It took seven years of dedicated investigation by specialist teams from across the Met, in close cooperation with the CPS and the National Crime Agency,” Will Lyne, the Head of the Met’s Economic and Cybercrime Command, said.

“Organised crime groups are using cryptocurrency to move, hide, and invest the profits of serious crime,” Lyne added. “But every crypto transaction leaves a trace, and we will continue to follow those trails to bring offenders to justice.”