Woman pleads guilty in UK $7 billion Bitcoin fraud case

A Chinese national charged with plead guilty on the first day of the trial at Southwark Crown Court in London, England, was charged with a charge of one count of multibillion-pound fraud.

Qian Zhimin, also known as 47-year-old Zhang Yadi, admitted to possessing and transferring criminal property under the 2002 Crime Act, Reuters reported. She was remanded before the verdict, and the verdict was planned to proceed later.

The case stems from one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures ever, with British police seizures confiscating 61,000 BTC, currently worth about £5.1 billion ($6.7 billion).

The funds are allegedly linked to a massive investment fraud in China, which defrauded about 128,000 victims between 2014 and 2017.

At current Bitcoin pricing, 61,000 BTC is worth nearly $7 billion.

A “hard” experiment process

According to reports, in the collapse of her company, Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd.

She tried to buy the proceeds of property purchases in the UK and, with the help of her accomplice Jian Wen, who was previously sentenced to jail for promoting 150 BTC operations.

Metropolitan police officials praised the results of years of complex, cross-border investigations. Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the investigation, pointed out that the case involved a hard collection of evidence in multiple jurisdictions.

Legal analysts say the trial highlights the challenge of prosecuting cross-border cryptocurrency crimes. Qian denies fraud and maintains its Bitcoin holdings is a legitimate investment. The lack of the UK-China extradition treaty, the facts directly involved in any British entity complicates potential fraud allegations.

The trial is expected to last 12 weeks, with Chinese police planning to testify in person during this case. Several frustrated victims will be proved remotely through video links from Tianjin courts.