Ringleader behind world's biggest cryptocurrency fraud convicted in UK
UK police have made what is believed to be the world's biggest cryptocurrency seizure, worth a staggering £5 billion ($10 billion).
The seizure of 61,000 Bitcoin followed a seven-year investigation by London's Metropolitan Police Force into international money laundering, which resulted in the convictions of a man and woman.
Chinese national Zhimin Qian, 47, also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty in court on Monday to illegally acquiring and possessing the cryptocurrency.
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Hok Seng Ling, left, and Zhimin Qian were convicted in a London court for their role in a $10 billion crypto fraud. Metropolitan Police Force
Yesterday, Hok Seng Ling, of the East Midlands in England, pleaded guilty to money laundering.
Police said Qian was the ringleader of the crypto scam.
From 2014 to 2017, she orchestrated a large-scale fraud in China through scamming more than 128,000 victims and went onto store the illegally obtained funds in Bitcoin assets.
She then fled China using false documents and entered the UK, where in September 2018 she attempted to launder the proceeds by purchasing property, with the help of an assailant, Jian Wen.
Qian and Ling were arrested last April, where assets, including encrypted devices, cash, gold, and further cryptocurrency, worth £11 million were confiscated.
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New Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police. AP
Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who headed the police investigation, said Qian had been "evading justice" for five years until she was brought into custody.
"Her arrest triggered a complex investigation requiring evidence from multiple jurisdictions and the careful review of thousands of documents," Grotto said.
Sentencing for Qian and Ling is scheduled to take place in November.
UK Security Minister Dan Jarvis said the conviction sent a "clear signal" that Britain wasn't a "safe haven" for criminals.
"Money laundering erodes trust, undermines our economy, and fuels the rise of serious organised crime," he said.
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