£5bn Bitcoin scammer behind UK’s largest-ever cryptocurrency seizure jailed

The mastermind behind a scam which led UK police to make their largest-ever cryptocurrency seizure of more than £5bn in Bitcoin has been jailed.

Zhimin Qian, 47, was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 11 years and eight months in prison on Tuesday.

She had earlier pleaded guilty to money laundering and possessing and transferring criminal property.

Qian, a Chinese national, defrauded more than 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017 through a Ponzi scheme in China. She then fled to the UK as an international fugitive.

She had stored the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets and spent years evading UK police by sightseeing across Europe, staying in upmarket hotels, and living a life of “luxury”, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, was eventually arrested in 2024 after spending nearly six years “at large”.

Her accomplice Seng Hok Ling, 47, was sentenced at the same court to four years and 11 months in prison.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.

When Qian and Ling were convicted in September, the value of the Bitcoin was priced at more than £5.5bn, according to Metropolitan Police officers.

It is understood that the value is constantly changing, and is currently priced at around £5bn.

Gillian Jones KC, prosecuting, told the sentencing hearing that Qian had defrauded more than 128,000 victims through her business Lantian Gerui.

Qian eventually came to the attention of Chinese authorities, prompting her to flee the country before eventually arriving in the UK in September 2017.

In the UK, Qian recruited an accomplice, Jian Wen, to help her “set up a new life”.

In September, Qian started renting a “lavish” property in Hampstead, London, having told an estate agent a “lie” that she ran a successful jewellery business.

The monthly rent for this property was £17,333, the court heard.

The sentencing hearing was told that Qian travelled “extensively” throughout Europe in the months and years that followed, staying in expensive hotels and sightseeing.

It was heard that during these trips, “Bitcoin was transferred and sold in exchange for cash, fine jewellery bought and property in Europe considered for purchase”.

In one trip, Qian and Wen spent £119,200 purchasing two watches at a jewellery shop in Zurich, Switzerland.

In 2018, Qian attempted to purchase a £12.5m property in London, and after suspicions were raised over her Bitcoin, UK authorities were notified.

Metropolitan Police officers visited her Hampstead home to execute a search warrant in October 2018.

Qian provided the fake name of Yadi Zhang to officers, and the court heard that at this stage, the police did not know who she was.

Officers discovered laptops in her property with millions of pounds worth of Bitcoin contained on them.

No arrests were made at that stage and Qian fled the country after this raid.

The court heard that in a later discovery officers found documents recording Qian’s “aspirations and intentions”.

The court heard that one of these detailed her intention to become the “monarch of Liberland”, which is a “self-proclaimed country” consisting of a strip of land between Croatia and Serbia.

The court heard that for nearly six years, Qian managed to “evade arrest” and was ultimately “at large”.

Meanwhile Wen was arrested in May 2021 at the Hampstead address in London and was subsequently charged with money laundering.

While her trial was ongoing, a transfer of Bitcoin was made, which led police to identify Seng Hok Ling at an address in York.

Police visited the address in April 2024 and discovered Qian.

Authorities discovered several devices at Qian’s address, including a laptop containing a cryptocurrency wallet with millions of pounds worth of Bitcoin.

She was arrested at the address in York in April 2024 and taken to a local police station.

Qian was subsequently charged with the money laundering offences.

The court heard Ling, a Malaysian national who lives in Derbyshire, had provided assistance to Qian, including by arranging rental properties for her to live in.

Richard Thomas KC, mitigating on behalf of Qian, said his client has “no previous convictions” and has maintained an “exemplary record” while in custody.

Narita Bahra KC, representing Ling, said her client did not know the “full extent” of Qian’s criminality and described her as the “boss lady”.

She said: “This was a subservient role for Mr Ling.

“The first defendant [Qian] was described as ‘boss lady’, ‘the boss’, and all the evidence points to that being the position that Mr Ling acted on the direction of the first defendant.”

She said Ling, who had a previous conviction for fraud, did not have any “enrichment beyond employment payments”.

Wen was convicted of one charge of money laundering after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.

She was later sentenced to six years and eight months’ imprisonment.