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A Chinese woman pleaded guilty to money laundering in a London court on Sept. 29, following a record seizure of cryptocurrency worth 5.16 billion pounds ($6.93 billion).
On the first day of her trial at Southwark Crown Court, Qian Zhimin, also known as Zhang Yadi, changed her plea and admitted to one count of possessing criminal property and one count of transferring criminal property.
Zhang, 47, was arrested last year after an investigation that began in 2018 when British police seized cryptocurrency wallets holding more than 61,000 bitcoin.
The Metropolitan Police issued a
statement saying it had made “what is believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world.”
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Zhang is alleged to have been involved in defrauding 128,000 individuals in China who invested in the Tianjin Lantian Gerui Technology Company, which was
wound up in the High Court in London in July 2024 after being declared insolvent.
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In September 2024, Britain’s director of public prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, initiated civil recovery proceedings and
notified victims of the Lantian Gerui fraud.
In a
statement, he said many of the fraud victims “may have already claimed partial redress under a compensation scheme which has been established in China.”
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Will Lyne, the Metropolitan Police’s head of economic and cybercrime command,
said: “This is one of the largest money laundering cases in UK history and among the highest-value cryptocurrency cases globally.
“Through a meticulous investigation and unprecedented cooperation with Chinese law enforcement, we were able to obtain compelling evidence of the criminal origins of the cryptoassets Qian [Zhang] attempted to launder in the UK.”
Bitcoin Used to ‘Disguise Assets’
“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets, so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct,” Robin Weyell, deputy chief Crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said in a
statement.
“This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters.”
The police said Zhang orchestrated a large-scale fraud in China between 2014 and 2017 and then traveled to the UK using false documents.
In September 2018, she attempted to launder the proceeds via purchasing property, with the assistance of 43-year-old Jian Wen, according to the police.
Wen is said to have been involved in facilitating the movement of a cryptocurrency wallet, which contained 150 bitcoin.
In May 2024, Wen was jailed for six years and eight months for her role in the money laundering.
In January, Lord Lamont
told the Mail on Sunday newspaper that Britain’s chancellor of the exchequer, Rachel Reeves, should use the seized cryptocurrency from the Lantian Gerui case to help plug a 22 billion pound ($29 billion) hole in the UK’s finances.
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Lamont, a former chancellor who was known as Norman Lamont before he was knighted,
said: “I think that Reeves should spend it right away and not hold onto it. Otherwise, it looks like the government is legitimising crypto, which has no intrinsic value. It would also help with the government’s finances.”
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“Ms. Zhang denies all allegations of money laundering. At her trial later this year she will say that the BTC currently held by authorities does not represent the proceeds from any criminal activity,” Zhang’s lawyer, Roger Sahota of Berkeley Square Solicitors, said in a
statement issued in response.
“She maintains that her business dealings in China were legitimate and asserts she did not misappropriate investors’ funds. The evidence from China will be tested vigorously.”
“It is entirely inappropriate for there to be any decision on how the BTC linked to this case should be disposed of before the legal proceedings involving Ms Zhang are concluded,” Sahota
said of Lamont’s comments.
On Sept. 29, Judge Sally-Ann Hales remanded Zhang in custody until a sentencing hearing later in the year.
A trial is due to begin on Sept. 30 against Hok Seng Ling, 47, who denies assisting Zhang to launder money.
Hearings to Decide Who Gets Crypto Assets
Following the conclusion of the criminal trials, there are expected to be lengthy proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act to decide what should happen to the 61,000 bitcoins seized.
“The CPS will now work to ensure, through criminal confiscation and civil proceedings, that the criminal assets remain beyond the fraudsters’ reach,” Weyell said.
Cryptocurrency is often used by criminals to launder money, and there has recently been an increase in the number of thefts and
kidnappings in which cryptocurrency is stolen or seized.
Previously, the record cryptocurrency seizure is believed to be $3.36 billion (50,676 bitcoins), which was
seized from investor James Zhong’s home in Gainesville, Georgia, in November 2021.
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Zhong later admitted stealing billions in cryptocurrency from the underground Silk Road online exchange and transferring them into his private accounts in September 2012.
In April 2023, he was
jailed for one year and one day, after agreeing to forfeit the illegally obtained bitcoins.
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Reuters contributed to this report.
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