The mastermind of a vast Ponzi scheme in China was on Tuesday jailed in Britain for over 11 years for laundering the proceeds of the fraud into cryptocurrency now worth billions of dollars.
Qian Zhimin pleaded guilty to two money laundering charges in September, after an investigation during which British police seized more than 61,000 bitcoin — currently worth over $US6 billion ($9.1 billion) — in one of the largest ever cryptocurrency seizures.
Qian, who has come to be known as the "cryptoqueen" due to her lavish lifestyle, wept in the dock at London's Southwark Crown Court as Judge Sally-Ann Hales made her sentencing remarks.
"You were the architect of this offending from its inception to its conclusion … your motive was one of pure greed," Judge Hales said.
Another accused individual connected to the case, 46-year-old Seng Hok Ling, pleaded guilty in September to transferring criminal property, namely cryptocurrency.
Qian, 47, changed her pleas on what was due to be the first day of her trial, admitting possessing and transferring criminal property.
She previously claimed she was the target of a Chinese government "crackdown on successful crypto entrepreneurs".
Prosecutors say Qian ran an investment fraud between 2014 and 2017, into which around 128,000 people invested roughly 40 billion renminbi ($8.6 billion), about 6 billion of which was siphoned off.
Over 80 people were convicted in China.
Qian fled China via Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia, before she flew to London on a St Kitts and Nevis passport and began trying to convert bitcoin bought with the proceeds of the fraud into cash, prosecutors said.
The BBC reported that prior to being caught, she had moved into a mansion in London's upmarket Hampstead area where she enjoyed a lavish lifestyle.
It was only when she tried to purchase another property that authorities began investigating her wealth.
After their arrest, the Metropolitan Police said it seized assets included encrypted devices, cash, gold, and further cryptocurrency.
ABC/Reuters
