Bitcoin Scammer Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison Over £5.5 Billion Heist
A former Chinese national has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison for masterminding one of the UK's largest bitcoin scams, swindling over 128,000 victims out of an estimated £4.3 billion.
Zhimin Qian, a 46-year-old woman known as "sister Hua," was arrested in April this year alongside four Malaysian nationals working as her domestic staff. The group had been hiding in plain sight in the UK for nearly seven years, with Qian using her charm and wit to lure victims into investing in her bitcoin schemes.
The scam began in 2012, when Qian first appeared on the radar of Chinese authorities linked to smaller pyramid schemes. However, it wasn't until she launched a bigger scheme through a Tianjin-based company called "Blue Sky" that things escalated. Promising massive returns and luring victims with glossy promotional videos, Qian defrauded more than 128,000 people across China.
The investigation into Qian's activities was led by DS Isabella Grotto, who said the investment opportunity at the time might have seemed relatively realistic but had devastating effects for everyone involved. "Many people lost their life savings, and the emotional and financial impact was devastating," she added.
Qian's sentence caps a decade-long criminal career that saw her move across continents and use various aliases to evade authorities. She first arrived in the UK from Malaysia in 2017, carrying a St Kitts and Nevis passport, and spent nearly £92,000 on designer jewellery and women's clothing at Harrods.
The bitcoin seized from Qian's London home – more than 61,000 of them, worth billions of pounds – is now the subject of civil proceedings to determine what will be returned to victims in China. Her associate, Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling, was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison.
Detectives praised the progress made in using technology to track down cryptocurrency transactions and bring those involved in money laundering to justice. "Every cryptocurrency transaction leaves a trace," said Will Lyne, the head of economic and cybercrime at the Metropolitan police.
A former Chinese national has been sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison for masterminding one of the UK's largest bitcoin scams, swindling over 128,000 victims out of an estimated £4.3 billion.
Zhimin Qian, a 46-year-old woman known as "sister Hua," was arrested in April this year alongside four Malaysian nationals working as her domestic staff. The group had been hiding in plain sight in the UK for nearly seven years, with Qian using her charm and wit to lure victims into investing in her bitcoin schemes.
The scam began in 2012, when Qian first appeared on the radar of Chinese authorities linked to smaller pyramid schemes. However, it wasn't until she launched a bigger scheme through a Tianjin-based company called "Blue Sky" that things escalated. Promising massive returns and luring victims with glossy promotional videos, Qian defrauded more than 128,000 people across China.
The investigation into Qian's activities was led by DS Isabella Grotto, who said the investment opportunity at the time might have seemed relatively realistic but had devastating effects for everyone involved. "Many people lost their life savings, and the emotional and financial impact was devastating," she added.
Qian's sentence caps a decade-long criminal career that saw her move across continents and use various aliases to evade authorities. She first arrived in the UK from Malaysia in 2017, carrying a St Kitts and Nevis passport, and spent nearly £92,000 on designer jewellery and women's clothing at Harrods.
The bitcoin seized from Qian's London home – more than 61,000 of them, worth billions of pounds – is now the subject of civil proceedings to determine what will be returned to victims in China. Her associate, Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling, was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison.
Detectives praised the progress made in using technology to track down cryptocurrency transactions and bring those involved in money laundering to justice. "Every cryptocurrency transaction leaves a trace," said Will Lyne, the head of economic and cybercrime at the Metropolitan police.
. Anyway, I'm glad she got caught, but 11 years in prison? That's like, 3 years longer than the average Netflix binge-watching season 
. I mean, I've heard of people going crazy from losing money, but £4.3 billion? That's some next-level emotional damage 
.
! 11 years is still too long for someone who lost so many innocent lives over their greed 
That's just nasty.
, though. They're using tech to track down transactions and bring them to justice 
. We need more of that 
. And I'm glad the authorities are trying to return some of those ill-gotten gains back to the victims in China 
.
. It's a decent start, but we need to keep pushing for justice and making sure these scammers don't think they can just waltz away with their ill-gotten gains 
I wonder if anyone will ever get their money back, though... the bitcoin seized from Qian's house is going through some sort of civil proceedings. Fingers crossed that it gets sorted out soon.
can you even believe someone managed to swindle over £4.3 billion from people? it's insane how Zhimin Qian used her charm and wit to lure victims in with promises of big returns. and 128,000 people got affected by this... the emotional impact must be huge 
but i guess justice has been served now 
11 years is a long time but at least she can't be hurtin anyone else anymore 
can't believe people fall for this bitcoin scam again. 11 years is still not enough for someone who cost people £4.3 billion 
. Glad the police were able to crack down on her and recover some of the bitcoin 
This is just crazy! £5.5 billion gone down the drain because of one person's greed 
. And now, over 128k people are out thousands of pounds, including some who probably lost their life savings 
. The fact that the bitcoin is still being used by the authorities is kinda reassuring, but it's not like they'll be getting all their money back 
. Guess justice has been served though, even if it took 11 years to catch her 
.
those victims in china are still reeling from the effects of her scam, i hope they get some justice and their money back soon 
. Now, let's hope that some of that Bitcoin is returned to the victims in China... fingers crossed 
The fact that he's only serving 11 years is just another example of how our justice system can be so messed up sometimes 
, it's like they were hiding a whole other side of themselves. Anyway, I hope this helps bring some justice to all those people affected by her scam 
. anyway, 11 years in prison isn't enough, imo 
She thought she could just swindle all these people out of their life savings and get away with it? No way! 
11 years in prison is still a bit harsh, but better late than never 
It's also crazy to think about how much money was lost - £4.3 billion is just insane!