The largest Bitcoin money laundering case in the UK, involving a large number of Chinese investors, has made new progress.
The defendant Qian Zhimin (formerly known as Zhang Yadi, Huahua) pleaded not guilty to all money laundering charges during the trial at Southwark Crown Court in London on October 21, 2024. The trial of this case is scheduled to begin on September 29, 2025, at Southwark Crown Court.
Qian Zhimin has been charged by the UK Crown Prosecution Service with two counts of illegally holding cryptocurrency. Her lawyer stated, “Qian Zhimin denies all criminal charges and intends to actively defend this case.” Also appearing in court that day was a co-defendant named “Senghok Ling”, who also pleaded not guilty to a charge of participating in money laundering with knowledge that it was criminal property.
The reason why the trial of this case has attracted much attention is that Qian Zhimin was the mastermind behind the illegal fundraising case of Tianjin Blue Sky Greer seven years ago. She and her criminal gang were accused of converting these funds into Bitcoin assets and fleeing to the UK to spend them. The 128,000 Chinese investors involved have been actively seeking compensation, but have faced multiple difficulties such as cross-border debt recovery, virtual currency ownership, and value conversion.
According to investors who spoke to Jiemian News, representatives were also sent to attend the trial and entrusted a cross-border asset dispute lawyer team to observe the trial. The appointed lawyers have already filed a civil compensation application with the High Court of England on behalf of the creditors.
In this regard, the UK Crown Prosecution Service issued a notice specifically informing the Chinese victims on October 22 that the agency has initiated civil compensation procedures for the assets frozen by Qian Zhimin and others earlier this year in the UK. After the progress specified in Article 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, contact between countries will be made.
The Crown Prosecution Service initiated civil compensation procedures in the High Court earlier this year. If no other individuals or entities claim rights to the criminal assets, half will be allocated to the UK police and the other half to the UK Home Office. The purpose is to facilitate the disposal of criminal proceeds and prevent further crimes.
According to previous reports by Jiemian News, in 2017, seven Chinese ministries jointly called for a halt to various token issuance and financing activities. At that time, a total of 8,600 cases of illegal fundraising were investigated and filed nationwide, and 50 cases involved amounts over 100 million yuan. Among them, the illegal fundraising funds of Tianjin Blue Sky Greer amounted to 43 billion yuan.
After the incident, Qian Zhimin fled abroad with a forged passport from a member state of the Commonwealth and carried a laptop with an encrypted wallet that contained Bitcoin transferred in advance through subordinate Huobi accounts.
After arriving in the UK, she recruited a Chinese woman named Jian Wen in London to assist in her investigations in various European countries such as Switzerland, Italy, and Greece, with the aim of using the illegal gains to make large-scale purchases such as real estate, cars, and jewelry.
At the same time, the UK Financial Conduct Authority began cracking down on money laundering activities using cryptocurrency. In 2018, Qian Zhimin and Jian Wen attempted to directly purchase a mansion worth 23.5 million pounds using Bitcoin, which eventually attracted police attention due to the unclear source of funds.
Subsequently, Jian Wen was arrested by the police, but Qian Zhimin escaped in advance. It is reported that during her evading pursuit, she planned to invest in Liberland, an unrecognized micro “nation” in Eastern Europe, and intended to be elected as a “leader” there, and build the largest Buddhist temple and airport in Europe to obtain diplomatic immunity. Liberland claims to create a tax haven in Europe through cryptocurrency investment.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the London police repeatedly searched the two individuals and their residences, and finally froze 61,000 Bitcoins under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the largest scale in the country’s history. These assets will remain frozen until the aforementioned civil compensation process is completed or further orders are issued by the High Court.
Based on the latest Bitcoin price of $67,047 per coin on October 22, the total value of the frozen Bitcoins is currently $4.09 billion (approximately 29.1 billion RMB).
The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 in the UK stipulates the criminal confiscation system targeting criminal proceeds and the civil recovery targeting illegal gains. On March 18, 2024, the jury of Southwark Crown Court found Jian Wen guilty of money laundering, and she was subsequently sentenced to 6 years and 8 months in prison. The asset confiscation proceedings involving her have been postponed until January 2025.
Qian Zhimin surrendered in the UK in April this year and appeared in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on May 22 under the name Zhang Yadi, along with Senghok Ling. Currently, there is no further public information about the identity and details of the latter.
(Journalist Lu Yaxuan also contributed to this article)
