A woman accused of embezzling billions of pounds from Chinese pensioners through a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme is due to be sentenced in the U.K. this week for money laundering. British police say her case has led to one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures in global history.
Qian Zhimin, 47, fled China in 2017 after police there began investigating her company, Lantian Gerui (Bluesky Greet), which claimed to invest in health-tech innovations and Bitcoin mining. Authorities say the firm was a front for a massive Ponzi-style fraud that drew investments from over 100,000 Chinese citizens, many of them elderly. The total losses exceeded 40 billion yuan (£4.2 billion / $5.6 billion), according to the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).
After fleeing under a fake passport, Qian rented a £17,000-a-month mansion on the edge of Hampstead Heath in north London. Using her Bitcoin holdings, she posed as a wealthy diamond and antiques heiress while employing assistants to convert her cryptocurrency into cash and property. Her personal assistant, Wen Jian, was later convicted of money laundering and sentenced to six years in prison.
When police raided Qian’s London home, they found hard drives and laptops containing tens of thousands of Bitcoin, making it the single largest crypto seizure ever recorded in the U.K. Investigators say she spent her time gaming, shopping online, and outlining in her diary a “six-year plan” to build an empire—including founding an international bank, buying a Swedish castle, and even becoming “queen” of the self-proclaimed microstate Liberland, located between Croatia and Serbia.
Qian’s company had promised investors lucrative returns from crypto mining and technological breakthroughs. But Chinese court records revealed that payouts came from new investors’ deposits, not from legitimate profits. Her firm used nationalist messaging and celebrity endorsements, including the son-in-law of Chairman Mao, to win trust. Investors were invited to banquets and events, even one held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, where promotional videos and patriotic slogans encouraged further investment.
Many of those defrauded were retirees persuaded to reinvest daily “dividends” or borrow at high interest rates to buy more shares. “They just pumped up our dreams until we lost all self-control,” said one victim, identified as Mr Yu, whose marriage collapsed after losing his savings. Others suffered worse fates—one woman from Tianjin reportedly died of untreated breast cancer after losing the funds needed for her medical care.
When the scheme collapsed in 2017, Qian fled to the U.K. with her cryptocurrency fortune. Her diary mentioned plans to repay investors once Bitcoin reached £50,000 per coin, though police say her priority appeared to be personal enrichment.
She was arrested in York in April 2024, where police also found four individuals working illegally as her household staff. Initially, she denied wrongdoing, claiming she had escaped a government crackdown on crypto entrepreneurs. However, in September she pleaded guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal proceeds.
Qian’s Bitcoin holdings—worth billions today after appreciating more than 20-fold since her arrival in Britain—will be the subject of a civil proceeds-of-crime case scheduled for early next year. Thousands of Chinese victims are expected to file claims through U.K. courts, though legal experts warn that proving direct financial links may be difficult, as many sent money through local intermediaries.
Any unclaimed funds would normally revert to the U.K. Treasury, prompting speculation over whether the government could profit from the seizure. The CPS has said it is considering a compensation scheme for unrepresented victims, though details have yet to be finalized.
For victims like Mr Yu, justice remains uncertain. “If we can gather all the evidence together, we hope the U.K. government can show compassion,” he told the BBC. “It’s only that haul of Bitcoin that can return us a little of what we lost.”
Featured image credits: Pickpik
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