The Road to Recoupment for Chinese Investors: Defendant in UK's Largest Bitcoin Money Laundering Case Pleads Not Guilty, Trial Postponed to 2025

The Road to Recoupment for Chinese Investors: Defendant in UK's Largest Bitcoin Money Laundering Case Pleads Not Guilty, Trial Postponed to 2025A new development has emerged in the UK's largest Bitcoin money laundering case involving a significant amount of Chinese investors' funds. On October 21, 2024, the defendant, Qian Zhimin (formerly known as Zhang Yadi and Huahua), pleaded not guilty to all money laundering charges at Southwark Crown Court in London

The Road to Recoupment for Chinese Investors: Defendant in UK's Largest Bitcoin Money Laundering Case Pleads Not Guilty, Trial Postponed to 2025

A new development has emerged in the UK's largest Bitcoin money laundering case involving a significant amount of Chinese investors' funds. On October 21, 2024, the defendant, Qian Zhimin (formerly known as Zhang Yadi and Huahua), pleaded not guilty to all money laundering charges at Southwark Crown Court in London. The trial is scheduled to begin on September 29, 2025, at the same court.

Qian Zhimin was charged by the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) with two counts of possessing criminal property in the form of cryptocurrency. Her lawyer stated, "Ms. Qian Zhimin denies all allegations of criminal conduct and intends to fight this case vigorously." SenghokLing, a co-defendant who appeared in court with her, also pleaded not guilty to one charge of participating in money laundering knowing that the property was criminal.

The case has attracted significant attention because Qian Zhimin is believed to be the mastermind behind the Tianjin Lantian Gerui illegal fundraising case seven years ago. She is accused of converting the illegally raised funds into Bitcoin assets before fleeing to the UK to spend them. The 128,000 Chinese investors involved have been actively seeking compensation but have been faced with numerous challenges, including cross-border debt recovery, virtual currency ownership, and value conversion.

According to Jiemian News, some creditors sent representatives to the trial and hired a cross-border asset dispute legal team to observe the proceedings. These lawyers have already submitted civil claims for compensation to the UK High Court on behalf of the creditors.

Addressing the Chinese victims' requests for compensation, the CPS issued a statement on October 22, announcing that they had initiated civil recovery proceedings earlier this year regarding assets frozen from Qian Zhimin and others in the UK. This process will proceed until it reaches the stage specified in Section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, before any inter-state contacts are made.

The CPS filed civil recovery proceedings with the High Court earlier this year. If no other individuals or entities claim the criminal assets, half will be allocated to the UK police, and the other half will be transferred to the UK Home Office to facilitate the handling of criminal proceeds and prevent further crime.

According to previous reports by Jiemian News, in 2017, seven Chinese government departments jointly called for a halt to all forms of token issuance financing activities. At that time, 8,600 cases of illegal fundraising were investigated nationwide, with 50 cases involving more than 100 million yuan in assets, and Lantian Gerui illegally absorbed public deposits totaling 43 billion yuan.

After the incident, Qian Zhimin fled China using a forged Commonwealth passport and carried a laptop containing a cryptocurrency wallet with Bitcoin previously transferred from her subordinate's Huobi account. Arriving in the UK, she hired a Chinese woman named Jian Wen in London to assist her in exploring various European countries, including Switzerland, Italy, and Greece, with the intention of using the illegally obtained funds to make large-scale purchases of properties, cars, jewelry, etc.

Meanwhile, the UK's Financial Conduct Authority began cracking down on criminal activities involving money laundering through crypto assets. In 2018, Qian Zhimin and Jian Wen attempted to buy a 23.5 million pound mansion directly with Bitcoin, but their efforts attracted police attention due to the unclear source of funds. Jian Wen was subsequently arrested by the police, but Qian Zhimin fled beforehand.

It is reported that while evading arrest, Qian Zhimin planned to invest in Liberland, a micro-nation in Eastern Europe not recognized by the international community, with the intention of being elected as a "leader" there. She planned to build Europe's largest Buddhist temple and an airport to gain diplomatic immunity. Liberland claims to create a tax haven in Europe through cryptocurrency investments.

London police conducted repeated searches of Qian Zhimin, Jian Wen, and their residences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, they seized 61,000 Bitcoin based on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, marking the largest seizure of its kind in the country. These assets will remain frozen until the completion of the civil recovery proceedings or further orders from the High Court. According to the latest Bitcoin price of $67,047 on October 22, the frozen Bitcoin is currently worth approximately $4.09 billion (approximately 29.1 billion yuan).

The UK's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 establishes a criminal confiscation system targeting criminal proceeds and civil confiscation targeting illegal gains. On March 18, 2024, a jury at 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 to January 2025.

Qian Zhimin was apprehended in the UK in April this year and made her first appearance at Westminster Magistrates Court on May 22 under the name Zhang Yadi, alongside SenghokLing. Currently, there is no further publicly available information regarding SenghokLing's identity and involvement in the case.

This transnational compensation case remains unresolved, reflecting the complexity of cryptocurrency regulation and cross-border debt collection challenges. With Qian Zhimin's not guilty plea and the postponement of the trial, the game surrounding the enormous Bitcoin assets will continue, and the road to compensation for Chinese investors will be even more arduous.