UK seeks to pay back Chinese investors swindled in US$6.8bil bitcoin fraud


Chinese police started investigating a suspected fraudulent investment project in Tianjin, China, in 2017 that had swindled over 128,000 people across the country, UK prosecutors said at the trial. — Pixabay

UK prosecutors are looking to confiscate bitcoin worth about US$6.8bil (RM28.75bil) tied to a massive fraud in China uncovered at criminal trials, as they plan a victim compensation plan to repay duped investors. 

The UK police unearthed 61,000 bitcoin in 2018 during a money laundering investigation against two Chinese women linked to the fraud that impacted around 128,000 investors. Prosecutors are planning a victim compensation program, a lawyer said during a court hearing on Wednesday while several investors have applied to the court to claw back their money.

Some investors "have suffered huge personal loss in the form of lives, marriages, fracturing families and businesses,” said William Glover, a lawyer for a group if victims said after the hearing.

The haul comes after two Chinese women were convicted for their part in laundering the stolen cryptocurrency by London courts. Yadi Zhang, also known as Zhimin Qian, allegedly the mastermind behind the fraud in China, pleaded guilty to money laundering linked charges last month. While her accomplice was found guilty of fraud by a jury last year.

Another £67.3mil (US$89.9mil/RM380mil) was found after Zhang informed the police last month that she kept passwords for two crypto wallets in a purpose-made concealed pocket within a pair of jogging bottoms, which she was wearing at the time of her arrest in April 2024, lawyers for the prosecution said in court filings.

The prosecutors gave no more details on how the scope of the redress scheme or how it would be handled. 

"Given the unprecedented scale of the seizure and public debate about any potential surplus, our position is clear: victims’ restitution must come first,” Jackson Ng, a lawyer representing a set of investors, said.

Chinese police started investigating a suspected fraudulent investment project in Tianjin, China, in 2017 that had swindled over 128,000 people across the country, UK prosecutors said at the trial. The investigation uncovered a fraud involving a company called Tianjin Lantian that lured investors with the promise of high returns. 

Unsuspecting investors had a total of 40 billion yuan ($5.6 billion) stolen and 14 Chinese nationals have been convicted in connection with the crime. – Bloomberg

 

 

 

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