Chinese woman pleads guilty to bitcoin fraud in what is believed to be world’s largest seizure

Zhimin Qian a.k.a. Yadi Zhang (Metropolitan Police)

LONDON, United Kingdom -- A 47-year-old Chinese woman on Monday told a U.K. court that she played a leading role in a multibillion-pound fraudulent bitcoin scheme.

Chinese businesswoman Zhimin Qian, alias Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court following what is believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency seizure in the world, now worth about £5.5 billion (C$10.3 billion).

She admitted acquiring and possessing criminal property, namely cryptocurrency.

“Between 2014–2017, Zhang orchestrated a large-scale fraud in China through defrauding over 128,000 victims and went on to store the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets,” London’s Met Police said in a statement.

“She then fled China using false documents and entered the U.K., where in September 2018 she attempted to launder the proceeds via purchasing property,” it added.

Will Lyne, the Met’s Head of Economic and Cybercrime Command, said the case was “one of the largest ... in U.K. history and among the highest-value cryptocurrency cases globally.”

Last year, as part of the same seven-year investigation an accomplice, Jian Wen, was also jailed for six years and eight months for her role in the criminal operation.

Met investigators proved Jian had been involved in facilitating the movement of a cryptocurrency wallet, which contained 150 bitcoin. At the relevant time this was valued at £1.7 million (C$3.2 million).

Zhimin Qian’s case was adjourned until Tuesday after her guilty plea on what would have been the first day of her trial.