{"id":242765,"date":"2026-10-22T18:32:02","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=242765"},"modified":"2026-10-22T18:32:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T18:32:02","slug":"china-moves-to-confiscate-5-billion-in-bitcoin-from-fraudster-who-fled-to-uk-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/?p=242765","title":{"rendered":"China Moves to Confiscate $5 Billion in Bitcoin From Fraudster Who Fled to UK: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n

China Moves to Confiscate $5 Billion in Bitcoin From Fraudster Who Fled to UK: Report<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Chinese authorities are working to seize nearly 62,000 bitcoins \u2014 worth around $5 billion at today\u2019s prices \u2014 linked to one of the country\u2019s largest-ever fraud cases.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege that Qian Zhimin, the alleged controller of Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, recruited associates to sell fake wealth management products nationwide from 2014 to 2017 without financial regulatory approval, promising guaranteed returns to investors, according<\/a> to a report last week from Shanghai\u2019s The Paper.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The scheme raised some RMB 40.3 billion ($2.8 billion). Qian allegedly used investors\u2019 cash to pay off earlier participants \u2014 Ponzi-style \u2014 while channeling funds into the bitcoin holdings, property, cars, and jewelry. Little of the money went toward legitimate business operations.<\/p>\n

In July 2017, as the scheme unraveled, Qian fled to the UK carrying computers holding the bitcoin wallets. British authorities later seized the crypto assets and other property, including roughly 61,900 BTC along with cash, jewelry, and other cryptocurrencies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The case took a significant turn recently when the UK High Court ruled that Chinese law \u2014 not UK law \u2014 applies to ownership disputes over the seized bitcoin.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The coins have appreciated enormously since 2017, and the applicable law determines whether victims share in those gains. The UK\u2019s Crown Prosecution Service says victims may recover losses through China\u2019s compensation mechanism, but representatives from Fieldfisher law firm, acting for some victims, are considering an appeal. Further hearings will determine whether victims can prove their entitlement to the assets.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the Second Intermediate People\u2019s Court of Tianjin announced it accepted the prosecution\u2019s application on September 28 to confiscate Qian\u2019s illicit assets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Victims can register to participate in asset recovery proceedings through a WeChat platform, with a six-month notice period before the formal trial begins.<\/p>\n

China<\/a> has some of the world\u2019s strictest rules in regulating crypto. Its government banned digital asset trading and bitcoin mining back in 2021.<\/p>\n

This post China Moves to Confiscate $5 Billion in Bitcoin From Fraudster Who Fled to UK: Report<\/a> first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine<\/a> and is written by Mathew Di Salvo<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bitcoin Magazine China Moves to Confiscate $5 Billion in Bitcoin From Fraudster Who Fled to UK: Report Chinese authorities are working to seize nearly 62,000 bitcoins \u2014 worth around $5 billion at today\u2019s prices \u2014 linked to one of the country\u2019s largest-ever fraud cases. Prosecutors allege that Qian Zhimin, the alleged controller of Tianjin Lantian […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":242766,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-242765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242765"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=242765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/242766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=242765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=242765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=242765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}