A Chinese woman living in the UK and a former takeaway delivery woman has been charged by police with laundering $6.3 billion worth of Bitcoin.. The cryptocurrency was obtained as a result of fraud, law enforcement officials assure.
Jian Wen, 42, faces money laundering charges. The woman, according to police, converted the bitcoins on behalf of Yadi Zhang, whose real name is Zhimin Qian, who allegedly stole $6.3 billion in a cryptocurrency scam.
According to the indictment, Zhang defrauded 128,000 crypto investors from 2014 to 2017, resulting in prosecution by Chinese authorities.. The woman fled China in 2017, converted the money into bitcoins, flew to London and took a false name. Wen had moved to the UK earlier in 2007 and lived in “pretty modest” accommodation while working in Chinese takeaway restaurants. In 2017, Wen moved into a six-bedroom London mansion that Zhang rented, and in 2018 she became a British citizen.
Prosecutors allege Wen may have acted as a front man, converting bitcoins into cash and buying luxury goods while hiding the true source of the funds.. Wen herself denies the accusations, claiming to have been Zhang's guardian, who earned her money legally through mining, real estate and jewelry businesses.
Wen may not be involved in the multibillion-dollar fraud, so her connection with Zhang's bitcoins should be examined in more detail and find out whether the woman knew that the cryptocurrency was obtained through criminal means, the state prosecutor argues. The case is now being heard at Southerke Crown Court in London.
In November, the British National Crime Agency (NCA) formed a special team to investigate cryptocurrency crimes. In the same month, UK police promised to return the confiscated £2.37 million to victims of crypto fraud who invested in the IOTA project.