The British court sentenced the "queen of bitcoin" to 11 years and 8 months for fraud of $7.3 billion.

On Tuesday, the "queen of bitcoin" Jimin Qian was finally convicted. The trial lasted more than a month, and the case spanned over 5 years. She received a sentence of 11 years and 8 months, while her accomplice, 47-year-old Malaysian Seng Hock Ling, received 4 years and 11 months. The proven amount of damage was over £5.5 billion (approximately $7.3 billion at the current exchange rate).

Qian began her criminal career back in 2012 when Chinese authorities began investigating her activities related to smaller-scale schemes in the provinces of Anhui and Jilin.

One of the victims was a family that was forced to sell their home to invest in her scheme, while another victim stated that due to financial difficulties, they lost their family.

In July 2017, Qian fled China, traveling on a moped to Myanmar, and then made her way to the UK using fake documents under the name Yadi Zhang. There, she attempted to launder money through property purchases. Her accomplices, particularly the Malaysian Seng Hock Ling, assisted in these efforts. In 2018, they attempted to acquire property worth £24 million, which attracted the attention of the British police.

In 2018, the police conducted searches at Qian's rented house and that of her accomplices, discovering bitcoin wallets containing a large amount of bitcoins. The arrest took place only in April 2024. At the time of her arrest, she had over £60 million in four crypto wallets, as well as fake passports and cash. At the time of her arrest, her cryptocurrency portfolio amounted to over 61,000 bitcoins, which as of September 2024 was worth over £5.5 billion.