Chinese 'Bitcoin Queen' Zhimin Qian Gets 11 Years, 8 Months in London After Record 61,000-Bitcoin Seizure

Overview

• Southwark Crown Court sentenced Qian after she pleaded guilty in August to possessing and transferring criminal property, with the judge calling the laundering unprecedented in scale.
• The Metropolitan Police said more than 61,000 bitcoins linked to the case were seized, valued at roughly $6 billion, in what it described as the largest confirmed illegal-asset seizure in Europe.
• Prosecutors say the funds came from a 2014–2017 pyramid scheme in China that drew about 128,000 victims and raised an estimated £5.5 billion, after which Qian fled using false identities.
• Police located her in April 2024 by tracking fresh crypto movements to a house in York, where they arrested her and seized devices including a laptop holding a bitcoin wallet worth about £27.3 million.
• Co-defendant Seng Hok Ling received four years and 11 months, while associate Jian Wen was sentenced in 2023 to six years and eight months and ordered to repay £3.1 million, as authorities pursue asset recovery for victims.