The Metropolitan Police have secured a conviction in what is believed to be the world’s largest cryptocurrency seizure, valued at more than £5.5 billion ($7.3 billion).
Zhimin Qian, 47, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to acquiring and possessing criminal property under the Proceeds of Crime Act. Authorities said she ran a multibillion-pound Bitcoin fraud scheme that defrauded more than 128,000 victims in China between 2014 and 2017.
Qian, nicknamed China’s “Bitcoin Queen”, founded a company that lured investors with promises of returns between 100% and 300%. Over three years, she raised roughly 40 billion yuan (around £4.3 billion) from about 130,000 investors. When the scheme collapsed in 2017, she fled to the UK, converting the proceeds into Bitcoin.
The Met launched its inquiry in 2018 after receiving intelligence about the movement of the stolen crypto. Investigators ultimately seized 61,000 Bitcoin, initially worth hundreds of millions of pounds but now valued at over £5.5 billion following Bitcoin’s price surge.
After arriving in the UK, Qian attempted to launder funds through high-value property purchases with the help of associate Jian Wen, who was sentenced last year to six years and eight months in prison for her role.
“Today’s guilty plea marks the culmination of years of dedicated investigation by the Met’s Economic Crime teams and our partners,” said Will Lyne, Head of the Met’s Economic and Cybercrime Command. “This is one of the largest money laundering cases in UK history and among the highest-value cryptocurrency cases globally.”
The case required multi-jurisdictional cooperation, including assistance from Chinese law enforcement, to establish the criminal origins of the seized assets.
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The seizure surpasses other major cryptocurrency recoveries, including the U.S. Justice Department’s 2022 confiscation of 94,000 Bitcoin tied to the Bitfinex hack, then valued at $3.6 billion. With 61,000 Bitcoin now secured, the Met’s case stands as the largest single cryptocurrency seizure in history.
