UK convicts Chinese national in £5.5B crypto fraud, marks world’s largest Bitcoin seizure

A Chinese national, Zhimin Qian (47), also known as Yadi Zhang, was convicted in the UK for a £5.5 billion crypto fraud, described as the world’s largest Bitcoin seizure. Police seized £5.5 billion in cryptocurrency, totalling 61,000 Bitcoin, after raiding Qian’s London home. The Met Police said the seizure is believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world, arising from a seven-year investigation into international money laundering linked to the fraud that duped 128,000 victims.

Qian, arrested in April 2024, admitted in Southwark Crown Court to crimes connected with acquiring and holding illicit cryptocurrency, and she now awaits sentencing. The investigation traced laundering activity to 2018, with origins in China covering the period 2014–2017, and included moving a wallet holding 150 Bitcoin with the help of an accomplice, Jian Wen, who received a six-year, eight-month sentence in May. UK authorities say the case highlights the scale of illicit crypto laundering and the gravity of the offence.