Chinese Fugitive Convicted After Attempting £5.5 Billion Crypto Laundering Scheme in London

A Chinese fugitive has been convicted for attempting to launder £5.5 billion from a Hampstead mansion, in what is believed to be the world’s largest cryptocurrency scam. Zhimin Qian, 47, defrauded more than 128,000 victims in China between 2014 and 2017, promising astronomical investment returns of up to 300% through her company Lantian Gerui — only to siphon off their money into Bitcoin.

Qian fled China under a false identity and entered the UK with a fake St Kitts and Nevis passport in 2017. She rented a six-bedroom mansion in Hampstead for £17,000 a month with her accomplice, Jian Wen, who acted as the English-speaking face of the operation. Meanwhile, Qian spent her days in bed playing video games, shopping online, and managing her Bitcoin fortune.

Police discovered 61,000 Bitcoin — worth approximately £5 billion today — during a search of their home in 2018, marking the largest single cryptocurrency seizure in the world. The UK Treasury has earmarked the funds to help plug holes in public finances, though Chinese investors are disputing ownership.

Qian’s scheme was as audacious as it was elaborate. She lured business partners to elite diplomatic venues in Beijing, presented herself as a legitimate investment entrepreneur, and used her Bitcoin fortune to purchase luxury properties and jewelry across Europe and Dubai. Her digital diaries revealed grandiose ambitions to be anointed a “Reincarnated Goddess” and rule a micronation called Liberland, complete with a £5 million crown and temple infrastructure.

Qian pleaded guilty to possessing and transferring criminal property, while her accomplice Wen was sentenced to six years and eight months in May 2024.

Will Lyne, head of the Met’s Economic and Cybercrime Command, praised the investigation as a landmark achievement in both UK and global cryptocurrency enforcement, noting the unprecedented cooperation with Chinese authorities.

This case highlights not only the extraordinary scale of modern crypto fraud but also the need for more robust global oversight to prevent such schemes from exploiting loopholes in international finance.