A Chinese woman, popularly known as the “Goddess of Wealth,” Zhimin Qian, has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison by a UK court for orchestrating a multibillion-dollar bitcoin fraud that defrauded over 100,000 investors worldwide.
The 47-year-old was found guilty of running a massive Ponzi scheme that targeted around 128,000 victims in China between 2014 and 2017, luring them with promises of up to 300 percent returns on their investments. The fraudulent scheme raised billions of dollars, much of which was later converted into bitcoin.
According to the Metropolitan Police, British authorities seized 61,000 bitcoins, valued at more than £5 billion ($6.6 billion) the largest cryptocurrency seizure in history. Qian was finally arrested in York, northern England, in 2024, after several years on the run.
Delivering the judgment at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Sally-Ann Hales described Qian’s actions as “highly sophisticated and requiring careful planning,” adding, “Your motive was one of pure greed.”
Qian, who also goes by the alias Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty in September to possessing and transferring criminal property.
Her defense lawyer, Roger Sahota, said after the sentencing that his client “accepts her conviction” and expressed remorse:
“She never set out to commit fraud but recognises her investment schemes were fraudulent and misled those who trusted her. She is deeply sorry for the distress suffered by investors and hopes some good endures from the wealth her work created.”
Qian’s Malaysian associate, Seng Hok Ling, also 47, was sentenced to four years and 11 months after pleading guilty to one count of transferring criminal property.
Following increased scrutiny from Chinese regulators, Qian fled China in 2017 and moved to the United Kingdom, where she lived extravagantly renting a £17,000-a-month London apartment, staying in five-star hotels, and purchasing luxury jewelry, including two watches worth nearly £120,000.
Her arrest in April 2024 came after months of surveillance on her associate, Ling. Another accomplice, Jian Wen, was sentenced last year to six years and eight months for her role in the operation.
Will Lyne, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Economic and Cybercrime Command, described the seven-year investigation as “one of the largest and most complex” the force has ever conducted, requiring close cooperation with Chinese law enforcement.
More than 1,300 victims have come forward in ongoing civil proceedings at London’s High Court, where British authorities are developing a compensation scheme for those affected.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed to AFP that both countries are “cooperating on cross-border fugitive and asset recovery” efforts related to the case.
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