A Chinese woman has been convicted in UK Crown Court for masterminding a massive Bitcoin (BTC) fraud scheme worth £5.1 billion ($6.9 billion), marking one of the largest cryptocurrency scams in history.
Zhimin Qian, 47, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property in the form of cryptocurrency, according to the Metropolitan Police announcement.
The sophisticated operation defrauded over 128,000 Chinese investors between 2014 and 2017. Qian subsequently converted the illicit funds into Bitcoin and fled to the United Kingdom.
Authorities uncovered her money laundering attempts through property purchases facilitated by her assistant Jian Wen, who received a 6-year, 8-month prison sentence last year for her involvement.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the seizure of 61,000 BTC, describing it as "the single largest cryptocurrency seizure ever recorded worldwide."
This case follows recent reports that UK authorities may consider selling the confiscated Bitcoin, potentially creating market selling pressure similar to German government actions that affected BTC prices last year.