London
AP
—
A Chinese girl who was discovered with 5 billion kilos ($6.6 billion) in Bitcoin after defrauding greater than 128,000 individuals in China in a Ponzi scheme was sentenced by a UK court docket on Tuesday to over 11 years in jail.
Police stated the investigation into Zhimin Qian, 47, led to officers recovering gadgets holding 61,000 Bitcoin in the most important cryptocurrency seizure in the UK.
Qian, dubbed “cryptoqueen” by British media, was arrested in April 2024 after spending years evading the authorities and residing an “extravagant” way of life in Europe, staying in luxurious motels throughout the continent and shopping for tremendous jewellery and watches, prosecutors stated.
Police stated she ran a pyramid scheme that lured greater than 128,000 individuals to take a position in her enterprise between 2014 and 2017, together with many who invested their life financial savings and pensions. Authorities stated she saved the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin belongings.
When she attracted the eye of Chinese authorities, Qian fled to the UK underneath a pretend identification. Once in London, police stated she rented a “lavish” home for over 17,000 kilos ($23,000) per thirty days, and tried however failed to purchase multimillion pound properties in a bid to transform the Bitcoin.
Investigators discovered notes Qian had written documenting her aspirations — together with her “intention to become the monarch of Liberland, a self-proclaimed country consisting of a strip of land between Croatia and Serbia.”
They stated different notes confirmed Qian detailing her hopes of “meeting a duke and royalty.”
Judge Sally-Ann Hales stated Qian was the architect of the crimes from begin to end.
“Your motive was one of pure greed. You left China without a thought for the people whose investments you had stolen and enjoyed for a period of time a lavish lifestyle. You lied and schemed, all the while seeking to benefit yourself,” Hales stated.
The businesswoman, who had pleaded responsible to cash laundering offenses and transferring and possessing prison property, was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years and eight months at Southwark Crown Court.
She was sentenced alongside her confederate Seng Hok Ling, 47, a Malaysian nationwide who was accused of serving to Qian switch and launder the cryptocurrency. Ling was jailed on the identical court docket for 4 years and 11 months after he pleaded responsible to at least one depend of transferring prison property.