A Chinese woman known as the “Cryptoqueen” has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison in the United Kingdom after orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency frauds in the country’s history.
Zhimin Qian, 47, defrauded over 128,000 investors in a massive Ponzi-style Bitcoin scheme worth an estimated £5 billion. British authorities discovered that she had stored 61,000 Bitcoin — now valued at roughly €5 billion ($6.6 billion) — making it the largest crypto seizure ever recorded in the UK, according to the Associated Press.
Qian’s operation ran from 2014 to 2017, during which she convinced tens of thousands of people to invest their savings and retirement funds in what she claimed were high-return digital ventures. When Chinese investigators began probing her companies, she fled the country using a false identity and resurfaced in London.
Prosecutors said that after arriving in the UK, Qian lived a life of extreme luxury. She rented a £17,000-per-month townhouse, bought designer jewellery and watches, and even attempted to purchase multimillion-pound properties to launder her cryptocurrency gains into legitimate assets.
Investigators later discovered handwritten journals in which Qian fantasized about becoming the “monarch of Liberland,” a self-proclaimed micronation located between Croatia and Serbia. Her notes also revealed an obsession with social climbing and meeting British aristocracy.
At Southwark Crown Court, Judge Sally-Ann Hales condemned Qian’s actions, calling her “a calculating and deceitful individual driven entirely by greed.” The judge said, “You left China without a thought for the thousands whose savings you stole. You lied, manipulated, and lived lavishly on the backs of your victims.”
Qian pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including money laundering and possession of criminal property. She was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison.
Her associate, Seng Hok Ling, a 47-year-old Malaysian national, also pleaded guilty to transferring criminal property linked to the scheme and was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison.
Authorities are still tracing the origins of several Bitcoin wallets linked to Qian’s network as efforts continue to recover the stolen assets. Police described the case as a landmark moment in the UK’s fight against international cryptocurrency fraud.
