A Chinese woman accused of running a multibillion-dollar Bitcoin Ponzi scheme lived in luxury while evading authorities for years, a UK court heard Monday.
Zhimin Qian, 47, nicknamed the “goddess of wealth,” is charged with defrauding around 128,000 people in China between 2014 and 2017, raising billions of dollars, much of which was converted into Bitcoin.
Qian was arrested after UK authorities seized 61,000 Bitcoins worth over $6 billion, believed to be a record for cryptocurrency-related crime. She pleaded guilty in September to acquiring and possessing criminal property and faces up to 14 years in prison.
A Malaysian accomplice, Seng Hok Ling, also 47, admitted to money laundering and is set for sentencing, though his case may be adjourned over a plea misunderstanding.
The court heard that Qian evaded authorities for nearly six years, traveling across Europe, staying in luxury hotels, and buying expensive jewelry, including two watches valued at nearly £120,000 ($160,000). She rented a lavish London property for £17,000 a month, claiming to run a successful jewelry business.
Qian first drew UK attention in 2018 after attempting to buy a London property. Police raids later uncovered laptops containing a Bitcoin fortune, revealing the scale of her fraud. Her co-defendant, Jian Wen, has been jailed for six years and eight months.
Lawyers representing victims described the scheme as possibly the largest individual cryptocurrency fraud, affecting ordinary people such as farmers, taxi drivers, and housewives. Around 1,300 victims have come forward, and a compensation scheme is still being finalized in civil proceedings.
“Victims are often at times might not be financially sophisticated. These could be your farmers, butchers, taxis drivers, housewives who aren’t going to check everything,” said lawyer Jackson Ng.
Bitcoin’s value has soared from $3,600 in 2018 to around $100,000, intensifying the scale of losses for victims.
