A ‘butler’ working for a fraudster at the centre of a £5.5bilion cryptocurrency scam has admitted helping her evade capture while on the run from police.
Hok Seng Ling, 47, pleaded guilty at London‘s Southwark Crown Court to entering into a money laundering arrangement with mastermind Yadi Zhang, 47, on or before April 24, 2024.
Zhang, also known as Zhimin Qian, orchestrated a large-scale fraud in China that stole from 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017 and stored the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets.
In 2018, Zhang came to the UK after fleeing her home country using false documents and attempted to launder the proceeds before going on the run from police.
Ling served as Zhang’s ‘butler’ and helped her avoid capture by organising helpers and booking Airbnbs, including in Scotland, the court heard.
Zhang was eventually traced after the Metropolitan Police carried out surveillance on Ling. The pair were arrested in York in April 2024, where officers seized £11 million of assets including encrypted devices, cash, gold, and further cryptocurrency.
Confiscation proceedings have begun to try and claw back more than £16.2 million from Ling, but the figure will be adjusted to reflect cryptocurrency rates when he is sentenced in November, the court heard.
The Malaysian national, of Matlock in Derbyshire, was ordered to next appear in court for a two-day sentencing hearing between November 10 and 11.
Hok Seng Ling, a ‘butler’ working for a fraudster at the centre of a £5.5bilion cryptocurrency scam, today admitted helping her evade capture while on the run from police
Yadi Zhang (pictured) orchestrated a large-scale fraud in China that stole from 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017
His admission comes after Zhang, 47, pleaded guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property in the same court on Monday, the Metropolitan Police said.
Zhang came to the UK in September 2018, when she attempted to launder her crypto proceeds via purchasing property, with the assistance of an assailant, Jian Wen.
Police later seized 61,000 Bitcoin worth £5.1billion from Wen’s £5million mansion in Hampstead, which she moved into within weeks of arriving in the UK as a takeaway worker with just £5,000 to her name.
The Met did not realise the devices they had seized contained Bitcoin until 2021, by which point Qian at vanished. It is thought to be the largest law enforcement Bitcoin seizure ever.
She was not charged until April 2024 after she was arrested in York.
Qian emerged for relative obscurity to run a Chinese company called Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, launched in March 2014.
The firm sold investment products with promised returns of up to 300 per cent. In reality, she was simply funnelling her investors’ money into Bitcoin for her own enrichment.
Will Lyne, The Met’s Head of Economic and Cybercrime Command, said officers were able to gather evidence with the assistance of police in China.
Qian’s assistant Jian Wen (pictured) was convicted of money laundering
Wen’s £5million mansion in Hampstead, which she moved into within weeks of arriving in the UK
‘We were able to obtain compelling evidence of the criminal origins of the cryptoassets Qian attempted to launder in the UK,’ he said.
‘My thoughts are with the thousands of victims defrauded in this scheme, and I hope today’s outcome acknowledges the harm Qian inflicted and reinforces the Met’s unwavering commitment to justice.’
Wen was convicted of money laundering and jailed for six years in 2014.
Zhang is also to be sentenced on November 10.