Chinese Prosecutors Move to Confiscate 61,800 Bitcoin (BTC) in $5.7 Billion Fraud Case
Key Takeaways
- •Tianjin prosecutors have applied to confiscate 61,896.41552945 BTC, valued at approximately $5.7 billion, in connection with a major investment fraud case.
- •Qian Zhimin is accused of defrauding roughly 128,000 retail investors of about 43 billion yuan through a Tianjin-based scheme that operated between 2014 and 2017.
- •London's Metropolitan seized more than 61,000 BTC linked to Qian in 2021, the largest cryptocurrency seizure recorded in the UK at the time, and she received a six-year-and-eight-month prison sentence in May 2025 after pleading guilty to acquiring and transferring criminal property.
- •Her associate Wen Jian was convicted of money laundering tied to the same scheme and sentenced in May 2025 to six years and one month in prison.
- •The seized bitcoin, mostly still held in British custody, is now subject to both the UK's civil recovery proceedings and China's confiscation application, leaving the reconciliation of the two claims and potential restitution for victims unresolved.
Prosecutors in Tianjin, China, have filed to confiscate 61,896.41552945 bitcoin (BTC) — approximately 61,800 BTC — in a fraud case valued at $5.7 billion.
Update 16:22 UTC: The filing in Tianjin names 61,896.41552945 BTC precisely, and most of that cryptocurrency remains in British custody.
The confiscation application stems from one of China's largest investment fraud cases. Qian Zhimin, a Chinese national, is accused of defrauding roughly 128,000 retail investors of about 43 billion yuan through a Tianjin-based investment scheme that operated between 2014 and 2017.
Before Chinese authorities could intervene, Qian left the country and later surfaced in Britain using a false passport, living in London under the alias "Yadi Zhang." In 2021, London's Metropolitan Police seized more than 61,000 BTC linked to her — at the time, the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever recorded in the United Kingdom. The coins were held in hardware wallets that investigators spent months unlocking.
Qian was subsequently prosecuted in British courts. In 2024, she pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to charges of acquiring and transferring criminal property. In May 2025, she was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison. Her associate, Wen Jian, was separately convicted of money laundering in connection with the same scheme and, in May 2025, received a sentence of six years and one month.
UK courts have since determined that the seized bitcoin constitutes criminal property, allowing authorities to pursue its forfeiture under civil recovery proceedings aimed at compensating victims. The case underscores a defining feature of cross-border crypto enforcement: digital assets can cross borders faster than the legal processes chasing them, leaving recovery to play out over years in the courts of the country where they land.
The new filing by Tianjin prosecutors represents a formal move by Chinese authorities to confiscate the hoard in connection with the fraud case. Most of the cryptocurrency remains in British custody, meaning two parallel processes now attach to the same assets: the UK's civil recovery proceedings and China's confiscation application. How those claims are reconciled — and whether the roughly 128,000 defrauded investors ultimately see restitution through either channel — is the thread to watch as the case develops.
Source: COINOTAG
