A Chinese was condemned for the decisive role it played in the one that is considered the largest seizure of cryptocurrencies in the world, worth more than £ 5 billion or 5.7 billion euros.

Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, confessed to her Southwark Crown Court on Monday in London for illegal acquisition and possession of cryptocurrencies, the BBC notes.

Between 2014 and 2017, Qian led a large scale fraud in China, deceiving more than 128,000 victims and storing stolen money in Bitcoin assets, according to a statement by the Metropolitan Police.

The Metropolitan Police said the 47 -year -old’s guilt confession comes after seven years of investigation into a global network of money laundering.

According to police, a total of 61,000 bitcoin were seized by Qian.

Police said the investigation began in 2018, after information received on the transfer of illegal assets.

Qian “avoided justice” for five years until her arrest, which required a complex investigation into many jurisdictions, said Detective Isabella Grotto, who led the Metropolitan Police investigation.

He left China using fake documents and entered the United Kingdom, where he tried to rinse the stolen money by buying real estate, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Qian had the help of a Chinese restaurant worker, Jian Wen, who was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison last year for her involvement in criminal activity.

Wen, 44, has flushing out the revenue of fraud and moved from the apartment over the restaurant to a “rented house worth a few millions of pounds” in north London, according to the Crown Prosecutor’s Office (CPS) earlier this year.

He also bought two properties in Dubai worth more than £ 500,000, according to the CPS.

Metropolitan police said it seized a bitcoin worth more than £ 300 million from Wen.

Wen claimed to buy real estate for an employer from China. However, the CPS said the large quantity of bitcoin and the lack of evidence of how it acquired them suggest that they came from a criminal source.

The scam

The Chinese media of Lifeweek reported in 2024 that investors, mainly between the ages of 50 and 75, had invested “hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of yuan” in investments promoted by Qian.

The plans took advantage of the popularity of cryptocurrencies in China at that time, promising daily dividends and guaranteed profits, according to Lifeweek.

Qian’s company claimed to help China become a center of financial and technology and presented projects and investments that, he said, had the whole country.

Some of the victims – including businessmen, bank employees and members of the judiciary – are allegedly encouraged by friends and relatives to invest in Qian’s plan.

Investors allegedly knew little about Qian, who was described as “the goddess of wealth”.

“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly used by organized criminals to conceal and transfer assets so that the scammers can enjoy the benefits of their criminal behavior,” said Attorney General Robin Weyell.

“This case, which concerns the greatest seizure of cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom, demonstrates the magnitude of the criminal revenue available to these scammers,” he said.

Qian is in custody pending the extradition of her sentence. The date of the issuance of her sentence has not yet been specified.