6.1 million bitcoins were frozen, and the main suspect of the world's largest money laundering case fled with 6.3 billion dollars
Regarding the seized 61,000 bitcoins, the Financial Times revealed that the UK's Crown Prosecution Service has initiated civil recovery proceedings in the High Court. If no other parties are entitled to these assets, half of the confiscated funds will go to the UK police, and the other half to the Home Office.Author: Phoenix Network “Storm Eye” Comprehensive
Compiled by: PANews
When Jian Wen wrote on the letter, "To the one who said 'You are very poor': Look at how I grew into a millionaire!!!", she perhaps did not anticipate that her story would cause a huge uproar.
On March 18, a British court found 42-year-old Chinese-British woman Jian Wen guilty of money laundering, with sentencing scheduled for May 10. Police stated that during the investigation, over 61,000 bitcoins were seized, valued at approximately £3.4 billion, marking the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever recorded. These funds were alleged to have been obtained from a fraud group that deceived nearly 130,000 Chinese investors between 2014 and 2017.
Regarding the seized 61,000 bitcoins, the Financial Times revealed that the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service has initiated civil recovery proceedings in the High Court. If no other parties have rights to these assets, half of the confiscated funds will go to the UK police, and the other half to the UK Home Office.
"This is a premeditated fraud case, with the fraudulent method being the illegal absorption of public deposits. The criminals also used virtual currency for money laundering, with the processes tightly interlinked," said Yan Lixin, a professor at Fudan University's International Finance Institute and executive director of the China Anti-Money Laundering Research Center, in an interview with Phoenix Network's “Storm Eye.” "The actual execution difficulties of this case, especially regarding the ownership and disposal of bitcoins, lie in international coordination and cooperation in anti-money laundering."
Chinese Takeaway Worker Becomes Overnight Millionaire?
It is reported that Jian Wen was once an ordinary employee working in a restaurant in the UK, living a simple life. However, it is shocking that she suddenly possessed a fortune worth hundreds of millions in bitcoins. People can't help but wonder how Jian Wen achieved such an astonishing transformation.
According to reports, Jian Wen admitted that she grew up in an ordinary worker's family in China, where she met her ex-husband Marcus Barraclough. In 2007, she and her husband moved to the UK while she was pregnant.
Unfortunately, their marriage ended after the birth of their son. After the divorce, Jian Wen lived frugally in Leeds, during which she pursued and obtained a law diploma and a bachelor's degree in economics. In the summer of 2017, she moved to London. To make a living and raise her son, Jian Wen worked hard at a Chinese takeaway in Abbey Wood, southeast London, even living in a small room below the restaurant. To increase her income, she held multiple jobs, including handling cryptocurrency.
Jian Wen recalled that one day she saw a job advertisement for a "housekeeper" on WeChat, and out of curiosity and necessity, she decided to contact the employer. Later, she met her future employer Qian Zhimin (who was using the alias Zhang Yadi at the time) for the first time at the five-star Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington. This meeting became a significant turning point in Jian Wen's fate.
Financier Flees to the UK with $6.3 Billion
The financier Qian Zhimin, who met with Jian Wen, has a complex background.
In 2014, Qian Zhimin meticulously planned a "wealth management program" in China, successfully defrauding a large sum of money from 130,000 unsuspecting investors. In just three years, she amassed nearly $6.3 billion before quickly fleeing with the funds.
Police records show that Qian Zhimin was born in 1978 and previously ran a company called Tianjin Lantian Grey Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (which was established in March 2014). Before this, her life experience was largely unknown.
According to UK court documents, Lantian Grey sold investment products and promised investors returns of up to 300%. The company also claimed to have a side business in bitcoin mining.
However, UK court documents revealed that the company "used nearly obsolete (mining) equipment as a guise to deceive potential investors."
Ultimately, Qian Zhimin allegedly transferred investors' funds into an account at a cryptocurrency exchange and fled after converting them into bitcoins.
This escape was not without warning. Shortly after Lantian Grey was established, Qian Zhimin successfully persuaded employee Ren Jiangtao to become the sole shareholder and legal representative of the company with high salaries and generous bonuses.
It is reported that in addition to paying Ren Jiangtao a monthly salary of up to 26,948 yuan, Qian Zhimin also gave him a one-time bonus of 997,000 yuan. Additionally, she opened a bitcoin account in Ren Jiangtao's name, but according to Ren Jiangtao, all the funds in that account were controlled by Qian Zhimin.
Ren Jiangtao stated that Qian Zhimin had assured him that if the company encountered trouble, she would help him out of any legal difficulties.
However, after Chinese authorities launched an investigation in July 2017, Qian Zhimin quickly fled the country.
At that time, she carried a black Lenovo laptop containing a cryptocurrency wallet, which held billions of pounds worth of bitcoins, transferred from Ren Jiangtao's account.
She later entered the UK under the alias Zhang Yadi using a fake passport.
According to prosecutor Gillian Jones KC, after arriving in London, Qian Zhimin needed to convert her bitcoins into cash or other valuables like jewelry.
Additionally, she had been in a car accident, making her breathing labored and her mobility limited. Worse still, she barely spoke English. Therefore, she urgently needed someone to care for and assist her, preferably someone Chinese.
It was out of this need that she began searching for a reliable intermediary. Thus, her fate intertwined with Jian Wen's.
Extravagant Spending Triggers Investigation
After becoming Qian Zhimin's assistant, Jian Wen's life underwent a dramatic transformation. She moved from a dark basement to a luxurious mansion in North London worth £5 million.
The UK Crown Prosecution Service detailed Jian Wen's extravagant spending list. In 2017, Jian Wen rented a spacious six-bedroom property in London for £17,000 per month, paying six months' rent upfront. Additionally, she arranged for her child to attend an elite school near the mansion, with tuition fees reaching £6,000 per term.
Moreover, Jian Wen purchased a Mercedes-Benz E-Class for herself and became a valued customer at the luxury department store Harrods. Court documents show that she spent an average of £30,000 per month at Harrods.
As her social status in the UK rose, Jian Wen transformed from a restaurant employee into a jewelry trader, embarking on her global luxury journey. In Dubai, she spent £500,000 on an apartment; in Italy, she bid on a £10 million antique villa with a sea view in Venice; in Switzerland, she splurged £70,000 at Van Cleef & Arpels and spent £75,000 on diamonds from a private jeweler. From the fall of 2017 to the end of 2018, Jian Wen purchased three more properties in London, valued at £4.5 million, £23.5 million, and £12.5 million, respectively. However, due to the UK's strict anti-money laundering regulations, she had to provide proof of the legal source of her funds.
It was precisely because Jian Wen failed to convert enough bitcoins into pounds in a timely manner that regulatory authorities took notice.
At this point, the police identified Jian Wen as a target and officially launched an investigation against her.
Sudden Arrest
In the early hours of October 31, 2018, police raided a red-brick mansion in Hampstead, North London, thoroughly searching Jian Wen's residence.
In the following hours, police seized laptops, tablets, and a pink USB drive stored in metal cans. Additionally, they discovered £69,000 in cash in Jian Wen's bedroom. A large amount of cash was found in the Wen household during the raid.
When police noticed Jian Wen attempting to delete applications from her iPhone, they demanded she hand over her phone. Inside the case of another iPhone, police also found two €500 banknotes and a handwritten note with a list of passwords.
The next day, police searched the residence again and discovered a safe. Inside the safe were over 61,000 bitcoins—this amount is considered one of the largest bitcoin seizures in UK law enforcement history.
By the time the safe was fully unlocked in 2021, the seized virtual currency was valued at £1.4 billion. At the current price of $71,000 per bitcoin, the total value of these bitcoins has soared to $4.331 billion.
After a lengthy investigation and tracking, Jian Wen was finally arrested in May 2021, and the trial process lasted more than a year.
In 2023, Jian Wen faced trial for the first time, facing 12 charges. Ultimately, two charges could not be determined, and 10 charges were found not guilty.
Last week, Jian Wen appeared in court again for a second trial. In addition to the two previously undetermined charges, a new charge was added due to newly discovered wallet evidence. In this trial, the jury found her guilty of one of the three money laundering charges (involved). The jury could not reach a verdict on the other two issues.
Thus, Jian Wen's criminal activities finally came to an end: due to the large scale of the case, Jian Wen was classified as a Class A criminal, meaning she is among the most dangerous criminals, posing the most serious threat to society, police, or national security if she escapes. What awaits her is a long life behind bars.
Where is the Mastermind Hiding?
The mastermind behind the case, Qian Zhimin, disappeared immediately after learning that her residence was being searched, and her whereabouts remain unknown.
During the UK prosecution's trial, Jian Wen admitted that she did participate in handling cryptocurrency, but she firmly denied knowing that these funds were criminal proceeds, insisting that she was deceived by "that woman."
In Jian Wen's description, Qian Zhimin's life seemed exceptionally miserable. Due to a previous car accident, Qian Zhimin's mobility became extremely limited, and she spent most of her time bedridden, relying on her laptop for gaming, shopping, and bitcoin trading to pass the time.
"She often had nightmares, waking up screaming at night, and could only lie in bed all day. Who would have thought she was always using a fake identity?" Jian Wen lamented.
Reflecting on this experience, Jian Wen felt severely exploited, saying, "Even now, I still don't know where Qian Zhimin is."
Police stated that they are still actively tracking Qian Zhimin's whereabouts. Jian Wen is set to receive the final court ruling in May.
According to the Financial Times, regarding the handling of those 61,000 bitcoins, the UK Crown Prosecution Service has filed civil recovery proceedings in the High Court to determine if there are other legitimate claimants. Once these assets are officially confiscated, half will go to the UK police, and the other half will be allocated to the UK Home Office.
"If, yes, if no one or other entitled parties claim and pursue this right, the UK Home Office and police will naturally 'divide the spoils' after the necessary legal procedures, I think they have sufficient motivation to do so," said Yan Lixin, a finance professor at Fudan University's International Finance Institute and executive director of the China Anti-Money Laundering Research Center.
So, will the 130,000 Chinese victims receive compensation? Yan Lixin told Phoenix Network's “Storm Eye” that the Chinese government, judicial authorities, and police will not stand idly by and have the right to pursue the recovery of the proceeds, and the UK side should cooperate and support this, as both sides are members of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and must adhere to common rules.
Yan Lixin pointed out that the division of illicit funds is a common international practice. In this case, the UK side invested corresponding judicial and law enforcement resources to crack the case, and obtaining necessary compensation is understandable and acceptable, but it also needs to be controlled within a reasonable scope. Therefore, this case requires diplomatic coordination between China and the UK, as well as judicial and police cooperation to achieve a win-win situation under the framework of international law, maximizing the reduction of losses for the 130,000 victims in China.
Speaking about the difficulties of the case, Yan Lixin stated that the seizure, freezing, detention, and disposal of virtual currencies face many challenges that are "difficult to handle or even impossible to handle," which is also a global problem. Why is it so difficult? Firstly, the identification of ownership is challenging. Virtual asset accounts are not real-name systems, possessing anonymity, decentralization, and intangibility, making ownership unclear, which poses obstacles to law enforcement actions such as seizure and freezing; secondly, there is a lack of valuation standards. Virtual assets do not have a unified pricing mechanism, with significant price fluctuations, making assessment and disposal difficult; thirdly, technical means are lagging. Law enforcement agencies lack sufficient understanding of the operational mechanisms of virtual assets and lack effective technical means for evidence collection, tracking, and control; fourthly, international coordination is difficult. The cross-border flow of virtual currencies requires close cooperation among regulatory authorities in various countries, but due to inconsistent interests, regulatory standards, and even relevant laws and regulations, international coordination is extremely challenging.
"There are many victims involved in the case, the harm is significant, and the impact is severe. Therefore, it is imperative to quickly improve the relevant laws and regulations regarding the 'seizure, freezing, detention, and disposal' of virtual currencies, form a consensus on regulation and law enforcement, strengthen international cooperation, and adopt consistent measures to combat money laundering and other crimes using virtual assets," Yan Lixin said.
References:
How Chinese takeaway worker led police to Bitcoin worth £3bn in Britain's biggest ever cryptocurrency seizure. Skynews
A $5.6 Billion Bitcoin Fraud Case Snares UK Fast Food Worker. Bloomberg
