The world's largest bitcoin money laundering case has been concluded

On Friday, a court in London, England, sentenced a Chinese-British woman for assisting her employer in money laundering.

This case has also attracted much attention from investors in both countries because of the "61,000 bitcoins seized by the British police" and a 40 billion illegal public deposit case that occurred in China many years ago.

Judge: I have no doubt that you know what you are doing

Public information shows that the defendant in this case, Jian Wen, was born in China and followed her husband Marcus Barraclough to the UK in 2007 when she was seven months pregnant. Later, because her husband "had violent tendencies", the two divorced in 2010. Jian Wen lived with her son, working while studying for a diploma in law and economics.

In 2017, Jian Wen, who was working in a Chinese restaurant in London and living in a basement, saw an advertisement for "recruiting housekeepers". The employer behind it was Qian Zhimin, who went by the pseudonym "Yadi Zhang" and was the mastermind behind the illegal absorption of public deposits by Lantian Green. According to the police report at the time, the case involved 43 billion yuan in funds, and 126,000 investors from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions were involved.

On the eve of the incident, Qian Zhimin used a fake passport and fled to London, England with a laptop computer equipped with an encrypted wallet. Due to language barriers, she urgently needed a Chinese to handle her daily affairs and exchange Bitcoin for real estate, jewelry, etc.

According to the British police, after becoming Qian Zhimin's assistant, Jian Wen instantly entered a "luxurious life" - moving from the basement to a six-bedroom apartment with a monthly rent of 17,000 pounds, buying luxury goods and starting a "world travel", while buying real estate in many places in Europe and Dubai.

(Jian Wen travels in Germany, source: London Metropolitan Police)

However, when Jian Wen tried to buy several London luxury homes worth tens of millions of pounds, it triggered the UK's anti-money laundering procedures. Based on the fact that she only declared an income of 5,979 pounds in 2016/2017, and she could not explain the source of the Bitcoin used to pay for the house, the British police searched her residence on October 31, 2018 and seized the computer containing Bitcoin.

Dramatically, the British police did not discover that there were as many as 61,000 Bitcoins hidden in the computer until two and a half years later. Jian Wen was arrested in May 2021, and Qian Zhimin fled the UK before the British police tried to question her.

After several trials over the past few years, a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court ruled in March this year that Jian Wen was guilty of "laundering 150 bitcoins for a Chinese woman" between 2017 and 2022. Jian Wen has always rejected all charges against her and plans to appeal the conviction.

During the trial on Friday, Jian Wen's defense lawyer Mark Harries said that Wen was a victim before she became a criminal, and there was no doubt that she was deceived and used by the so-called "planner". She was just "the middleman who pressed the Bitcoin transaction button" and had limited awareness of the criminal extent of her behavior.

Prosecutor Gillian Jones emphasized that Jian Wen was driven by "greed" and her own economic interests, rather than being affected by coercion, intimidation or exploitation, and that she was also the decision maker in operating her own encrypted wallet.

Obviously, Judge Sally-Ann Hales did not believe the defense in the end. When she pronounced the verdict on Friday, she told Jian Wen: "This is a complex crime involving a major plan. I have no doubt that you know what you are doing."

What about Qian Zhimin?

After Jian Wen was arrested, the clues about Qian Zhimin's whereabouts were interrupted. However, according to the Financial Times, Qian Zhimin, who had disappeared for a long time, returned to London in April this year, was detained and appeared in court to face criminal charges from the British prosecutor.

It is reported that the Royal Prosecution Service accused her of possessing, obtaining and using criminal property, that is, those cryptocurrencies, in London and many places in the UK from October 1, 2017 to April this year.

One thing that is of concern is that Qian Zhimin claimed in the information provided to the court that her date of birth was November 10, 1990, but based on information from all parties, she should actually be born in 1978.

Through the translator, Qian Zhimin pleaded not guilty in court, but did not apply for bail. The judge decided that she would remain in custody and transferred the case to Southwark Crown Court, which previously tried Jian Wen.