A CRYPTO mastermind who had dreams of being a “Goddess” has pleaded guilty to money laundering offences after £5.5billion in Bitcoin was seized.
Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, fled to the UK in 2017 after ripping off 128,000 investors in China and converting their cash into cryptocurrency.
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The cryptocurrency was worth £1.4bn at the time but its value has now risen to more than £5bn.
Qian’s haul is thought to be the biggest law enforcement Bitcoin seizure ever worldwide as well as the largest single theft ever.
Qian was arrested in April last year after spending years on the run.
Police first raided her £5m six-bedroom rented house near Hampstead Heath, in north London, on 31 October 2018.
But it was another two and a half years before investigators discovered more than 61,000 Bitcoin in digital wallets – one of the biggest ever cryptocurrency seizures in the world.
Qian was due to face trial at Southwark Crown Court but has pleaded guilty to charges of possessing criminal property and transferring criminal property on or before 23 April 2024.
Qian admitted charges of possessing and transferring criminal property on the first day of her trial at Southwark Crown Court.
The 47-year-old, wearing glasses, a brown cardigan and an animal print top, was remanded in custody ahead of sentencing, which will take place at a later date.
In a digital diary seized by UK police, Qian recorded her desire to be anointed “Reincarnated Goddess” by the Dalai Lama, reports the Financial Times.
The diary also outlined her plans for the kingdom she would rule in known as “Liberland”, reports the outlet.
She planned to lead a 7 sq km unrecognised and uninhabited micronation located on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia.
Qian’s other plans included a Buddhist temple, infrastructure including an airport and port, and a £5million crown and sceptre.
Now, the fortune is at the centre of an intense battle between the UK government and Chinese investors over who gets to keep it.
The seized assets have reportedly been earmarked by Chancellor Rachel Reeves to help plug the hole in the public finances.
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Qian emerged from 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.
But in reality, she was simply funnelling her investors’ money into Bitcoin for her own enrichment.
Prosecutor Gillian Jones KC said she would not apply to launch confiscation proceedings because of the ongoing proceedings in the High Court.
Will Lyne, the Metropolitan Police‘s head of economic and cybercrime command, said Qian’s guilty pleas marked the culmination of “years of dedicated investigation“.
He said: “This is one of the largest money laundering cases in UK history and among the highest-value cryptocurrency cases globally.”
Zhang’s solicitor, Roger Sahota of Berkeley Square Solicitors, said: “By pleading guilty today, Ms Zhang hopes to bring some comfort to investors who have waited since 2017 for compensation, and to reassure them that the significant rise in cryptocurrency values means there are more than sufficient funds available to repay their losses.”
What is money laundering?
MONEY laundering is a serious offence that can land you a long jail sentence.
The total amount of cash laundered each year in the UK goes into the tens of billions – with the problem itself costing the country billions to deal with.
Money laundering is the process where criminals hide the proceeds of crime by disguising it as legitimate income from another business.
Cash can be laundered on a small scale with just one business or a large scale through financial institutions.
Money laundering is illegal because cops want crime to be unprofitable.
Hundreds of billions of pounds are thought to be knowingly and unknowingly laundered through banks.
The sentence depends on the amount of money involved – the seriousness of the offence increases with the amount of laundered cash.
Laundering drug money will typically lead to a higher sentence.
The money itself will also be subject to a confiscation order.
It comes after her assistant Jian Wen, 43, was jailed in 2024 for six years and eight months.
Wen was found guilty of one count of money laundering between October 2017 and January 2022.
The charge related to 150 Bitcoin, which is now worth an estimated £12.5m.
Her trial heard Wen was not involved in the alleged fraud but was said to have acted as a “front person” to help disguise the source of the money.
Some of the funds had been used to buy cryptocurrency and smuggled out of China on laptops.
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