Chinese Mastermind Zhimin Qian Jailed in UK’s Biggest £5 Billion Bitcoin Scam and Cryptocurrency Seizure

A Chinese fraudster has been jailed for masterminding a scam that led to the largest ever cryptocurrency seizure by UK police, totaling over 5 billion pounds worth of Bitcoin.

Zhimin Qian, 47, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison at Southwark Crown Court.

After pleading guilty in September, the fraudster was sentenced for money laundering and possessing and transferring criminal property. Chinese national Qian defrauded more than 128,000 victims through a scheme in China between 2014 and 2017, and deposited the illegally obtained funds into Bitcoin assets.

Read more: Mother criticizes teacher for giving 8-year-old child a zero mark in an exam while she argued

Read more: Arsenal announce new referee ruling on Dan Ballard's 'red card' and Sunderland's controversial goals

He and his partner, 47-year-old Seng Hock Ling, were also sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison at the same court after pleading guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.

Following Qian's sentencing, Will Lin, head of the Metropolitan Police's Economic and Cyber ​​Crime Command, said the investigation was "one of the largest and most complex" the police force had ever conducted.

He said: "This outcome is the culmination of seven years of dedicated investigation by specialist teams from across the Metropolitan Police."

"There's no doubt that this is one of our largest and most complex economic crime investigations to date, and today's convictions would not have been possible without the close working of our partners from the Crown Prosecution Service, the National Crime Agency, and Chinese law enforcement."

Organized crime groups are using cryptocurrencies to move, hide, and invest the profits of serious crime – but every crypto transaction leaves a trail, and the Met works closely with partners to trace that digital trail, identify assets, and bring criminals to justice.

"Our message is clear – criminal assets are not safe in the UK. The Met is committed to protecting the public, and this result demonstrates the lengths we will go to ensure justice for victims."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: "Cryptocurrency fraud is worth billions of dollars, fuels international money laundering, and fuels organized criminal gangs, so I welcome this important intervention by the Met.