A Chinese fraudster who fled to the UK has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months for possessing illegally obtained cryptocurrency and money laundering.
Zhimin Qian, dubbed the ‘crypto queen’, and her accomplice were sentenced at Southwark Crown Court yesterday (11 November) after pleading guilty to the two offences.
Between 2014 and 2017 Qian defrauded over 128,000 victims leading to losses of around £600m, of which £20.2m was converted into Bitcoin.
Qian then fled China for the UK and began to try to purchase high worth property and jewellery. Her attempts to buy property triggered questions under anti-money laundering regulations prompting Qian to flee again.
Police surveillance of her accomplice led to Qian being found in York and arrested in April 2024.
During the investigation over 60,000 Bitcoin were seized (almost £5bn) in the largest ever case in the UK.
Neil Colville, unit head prosecutor in the serious economic organised crime and international directorate of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The imprisoning of Zhimin Qian (aka Yadi Zhang) and Senghok Ling marks the culmination of many years of complex and detailed work by both the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.
“The fact that the defendants pleaded guilty are testament to the thoroughness of the investigation and prosecution.”
He added: “The CPS will now work to ensure, through criminal confiscation and civil proceedings, that the criminal assets remain beyond the fraudsters’ reach to firstly freeze and then look to seize the very large quantity of cryptocurrency and other assets, currently worth around £4.8 billion, used by Zhimin Qian to fund her extravagant lifestyle.”
