Metropolitan Police Holds 61,000 Bitcoin (BTC) Seized From Fraudster Zhimin Qian
Key Takeaways
- •The Metropolitan Police is the current custodian of approximately 61,000 Bitcoin seized from Zhimin Qian, making the force one of the largest government holders of the asset in the world.
- •The coins were obtained through a money-laundering investigation, with the main portion recovered from a west London address in 2021 and valued at roughly £1.4 billion at the time.
- •Qian, operating under the alias Yadi Zhang, collected an estimated 40 billion yuan from more than 128,000 retail investors in China through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Investment Consulting between 2014 and 2017.
- •Jian Wen, an associate who helped manage the funds, was convicted of money laundering in 2024 and sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
- •Qian pleaded guilty in September 2025 to acquiring and transferring criminal property, and UK courts will decide whether confiscation and compensation mechanisms return the coins' value to victims.
Metropolitan Police Holds 61,000 Bitcoin (BTC) Seized From Fraudster Zhimin Qian
2026-10-18 — About 61,000 Bitcoin (BTC) seized from Chinese fraudster Zhimin Qian sit in the custody of London's Metropolitan Police, and that hoard — not a trade or an auction — is the largest single pool of the asset to move through the news this week. The coins entered state hands through a money-laundering investigation rather than any market transaction, placing the force among the largest government holders of Bitcoin in the world.
How the Coins Reached State Hands
The Metropolitan Police's involvement began in 2018, when officers searched a property in Hampstead, north London, linked to Qian and seized electronic devices containing access to large Bitcoin holdings. The bulk of the hoard — more than 61,000 BTC — was recovered in 2021 from a rented address in Hammersmith, west London, where it was valued at roughly £1.4 billion. UK authorities have described it as the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever made by a British police force.
The Fraud Behind the Hoard
Qian, who used the alias Yadi Zhang, ran a large-scale investment scheme in China between 2014 and 2017 through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Investment Consulting, collecting an estimated 40 billion yuan from more than 128,000 retail investors before fleeing to the United Kingdom in 2017 on a fraudulently obtained passport from St Kitts and Nevis.
Legal Proceedings
The criminal case advanced in 2024, when Jian Wen, an associate who helped manage the funds, was convicted of money laundering at Southwark Crown Court and later sentenced to six years and eight months in prison. Qian was arrested in London in April 2024, and in September 2025 she pleaded guilty at the same court to charges of acquiring and transferring criminal property.
What Comes Next
The ultimate disposition of the coins will be settled through UK court proceedings, where confiscation and compensation mechanisms may channel proceeds back to the scheme's victims. Meanwhile, the notional value of the hoard has risen alongside Bitcoin's market price since the 2021 seizure, making it one of the most valuable assets ever held by a UK police force.
This content was first published on COINOTAG: https://en.coinotag.com/metropolitan-police-61000-bitcoin-zhimin-qian-seizure
