Overview
- Southwark Crown Court sentenced Qian to eleven years and eight months after Judge Sally-Ann Hales condemned the scale of her laundering and her motive as greed.
- Qian pleaded guilty in late September to possessing and transferring criminal assets, while the alleged Ponzi scheme in China from 2014 to 2017 that drew roughly 128,000 investors was not tried in the UK case.
- British police working with Chinese authorities have seized 61,000 bitcoins, worth more than $6 billion, in what reporters describe as the largest crypto-asset seizure in UK history.
- Her lawyer said all victims would be compensated because bitcoin’s price has surged since 2018, framing the appreciation as sufficient to cover losses.
- Media accounts say a dispute may be emerging over who will control the seized coins, with reports pointing to potential friction between the UK and China.