The background of the UK government seizing 61,000 Bitcoins from a fraudster

Author: Li Dan Fintalk

Original link:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rtIFLmj_68-kgaQKwFYvGA

Edited: wublockchain

According to a report by FT in January this year, 42-year-old Jian Wen was accused in the UK of committing three counts of money laundering on behalf of a Chinese woman named Yadi Zhang. From 2014 to 2017, Zhang stole approximately 5 billion pounds from over 128,000 Chinese investors through wealth management fraud, then exchanged the money for Bitcoin, and arrived in London under a false identity in 2017. Zhang’s real name is Zhimin Qian, who has now fled the UK. On March 20, the jury found Jian Wen guilty of money laundering, and he will be sentenced on May 10.

According to Dan Li’s Fintalk analysis, the UK’s charges against Zhimin Qian for stealing 5 billion pounds from Chinese investors and laundering it through Bitcoin is related to the Tianjin Lantian Gerui case in China, which promoted financial products through pyramid selling. In August 2017, the behind-the-scenes boss Qian Zhimin (nickname Huahua) fled with the funds, and by the end of 2017, the police had opened a case, announcing the arrest of more than 50 people in 2019; in 2021, UK police discovered 61,000 Bitcoins of illicit funds, which will be confiscated by the UK government if unclaimed.

Wublockchain also verified through another case information that Qian Zhimin was indeed the mastermind behind the Tianjin Lantian Gerui case, with the case information link as follows: https://news.qcc.com/postnews/5df9985e860499714d5a13d3b538049a.html

Here is the full text of the background of the case organized by Dan Li from Fintalk:

Original link: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/rtIFLmj_68-kgaQKwFYvGA

The main company involved in the Lantian Gerui case is Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., established in 2014. Although the company name includes “electronic technology,” it actually promoted several so-called “short-term investment and financial management” products using guaranteed high returns as bait and employed pyramid selling methods to establish dozens of branches in 30 provinces and cities across the country. The victims were mainly elderly people.

These financial products ranged from six months to 30 months in duration, with investment starting from 6,000 to 60,000, and the advertised annualized return rates were — 100% to 300%.

In August 2017, due to the behind-the-scenes boss Qian Zhimin (nickname Huahua) absconding with the funds, the company’s finances completely collapsed. By the end of 2017, the police had filed a case, and in 2019, it was announced that more than 50 people were arrested. In December 2022, Lantian Gerui started the repayment work. Although the police arrested more than 50 people, they did not capture Qian Zhimin, the real boss behind Lantian Gerui.

In fact, throughout the Lantian Gerui case, Qian Zhimin, nicknamed Huahua, always remained behind the scenes and never came to the forefront. When the company was established in 2014, Qian Zhimin convinced employee Ren Jiangtao to become the sole shareholder and legal representative of the company with high salaries and bonuses. Qian Zhimin also had Ren Jiangtao open a Huobi account specifically for buying Bitcoin. Facing Ren Jiangtao’s doubts, Qian Zhimin promised that he could settle all problems.

The promises of the fraudulent company’s boss were naturally worthless. On the eve of the explosion in July 2017, Qian Zhimin transferred billions of RMB worth of Bitcoin from Ren Jiangtao’s account to his own notebook cold wallet and ran away with the notebook. Qian Zhimin’s escape was naturally well-planned; before fleeing, he first bought a Burmese passport under the name NAN YIN, then impersonated the real identity of zhang yadi to obtain another passport from Saint Kitts and Nevis.

When fleeing, Qian Zhimin used a Burmese passport to enter Laos and then used a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport to fly to the UK. Successfully fleeing, Qian Zhimin, under the guise of Zhang Yadi, arrived in the UK. Qian Zhimin had suffered from a car accident, had heavy breathing, walked with a limp, and could hardly speak any English. Being alone, she needed a caregiver and assistant, preferably a Chinese.

At this time, a Chinese person, Wen Jian, saw a forwarded message on WeChat about hiring an assistant. After meeting once in the lobby of a hotel, Wen Jian became the “caregiver and assistant” for Zhang Yadi (Qian Zhimin). Qian Zhimin had a grand plan for how to escape charges.

In Qian Zhimin’s diary, it was written to first purchase a private country, Liberland, then build the largest Buddhist temple in Europe, and invite a high Lama to consecrate her as the reincarnated goddess and queen of Liberland. Becoming a head of state would naturally grant diplomatic immunity.

The imagination was beautiful, but reality is reality; even billions in assets couldn’t buy health. In real life, Qian Zhimin, who had difficulty walking, spent more than 20 hours a day in bed, had nightmares while sleeping, and woke up to play games on her laptop, shop, and sell Bitcoin.

In 2018, Qian Zhimin and Wen Jian attempted to use Bitcoin to purchase a mansion worth £25 million, but because they could not clarify the source of the funds, the purchase was unsuccessful, and instead, they caught the attention of the UK anti-money laundering police. On October 31, 2018, Scotland Yard police, with a search warrant, searched the mansion where the two lived together, and some electronic devices were seized. Among the items seized was Qian Zhimin’s Zhang Yadi passport. Contrary to expectations, Qian Zhimin and Wen Jian were not detained, and even six months later, the police returned the seized passport to Qian Zhimin. In August 2020, their mansion was searched a second time, and according to Scotland Yard, in the two searches, £110 million worth of Bitcoin was transferred away.

One month after the second search, the day before the police summoned Qian Zhimin, she disappeared from the UK. Three years after the electronic devices were seized, in 2021, UK police discovered 61,000 Bitcoins hidden within them — worth about £3.4 billion. In the face of such a large sum of money, neither the judge nor the jury asked the police why it took three years to “crack” and find the 61,000 Bitcoins, even though they had the wallet password, nor did they delve into why the passport was returned to Qian Zhimin.

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