Chinese scammer Zhimin Qian faces 14 years in prison following $6B Bitcoin seizure

Chinese language scammer Zhimin Qian, who defrauded greater than 128,000 victims and hid billions in Bitcoin, is predicted to face greater than a decade in jail.

Qian, alongside along with her accomplices, ran a large Ponzi scheme that promised sky-high returns to unsuspecting traders and has been on the run since fleeing China in 2017 utilizing pretend paperwork.

Now her long-awaited conviction in London will convey an finish to a case that has unfold throughout a number of nations, destroyed 1000’s of lives and led to the biggest Bitcoin seizure in British historical past.

In line with experiences, Qian might withstand 14 years in jail if the courtroom imposes the utmost sentence, a sentence that might be handed down by Southwark Crown Courtroom throughout a two-day listening to.

Qian, who used aliases comparable to Yadi Zhang and was additionally known as the “goddess of wealth,” pleaded responsible in late September.

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British authorities allege she performed a central position in directing a large fraud and cash laundering operation in what could also be one of many largest crypto-related felony instances ever introduced in opposition to a person. After asking tens of 1000’s of traders for cash, Qian then moved the cash to Bitcoin in an try to cover the extent of the theft.

Between 2014 and 2017, the 47-year-old ran an funding operation that promised extraordinary returns whereas concentrating on seniors and middle-aged savers with restricted expertise in dangerous merchandise.

After Chinese language authorities closed in on the scheme, Qian fled to Britain utilizing pretend paperwork and tried to launder her crypto fortune by the acquisition of luxurious actual property and a lifetime of luxurious.

One in every of her accomplices, Jian Wen, was beforehand arrested and later jailed for greater than six years after police found Bitcoin wallets value billions linked to the identical scheme.

Authorities had been capable of hint Qian’s actions by surveillance and monetary information and managed to get better money, gold and crypto property value hundreds of thousands throughout coordinated raids. Qian initially pleaded not responsible and ready to contest the costs, however later modified her plea as proof in opposition to her mounted.

In the course of the investigation, greater than 61,000 BTC value greater than $6 billion had been seized from Qian, a haul that marked the biggest cryptocurrency restoration ever by British authorities and have become a central pillar within the case in opposition to her.

She is charged in Britain with possessing and transferring felony property underneath the Proceeds of Crime Act.

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