128,000 victims. 61,000 Bitcoins. £5 billion in stolen crypto. This is one of the largest and most dramatic fraud and asset seizure cases the world has ever seen.
From “Goddess of Wealth” to Crypto Fraudster
Zhimin Qian, a 47-year-old Chinese national also known as Yadi Zhang, pleaded guilty at London’s Southwark Crown Court to holding and transferring illicit crypto assets. Between 2014 and 2017 in Tianjin, China, she ran Blue Sky Grid, a company that lured over 128,000 investors with promises of high returns. Instead, she funneled their funds into Bitcoin - quietly storing 61,000 BTC in digital wallets.
A Secret Life in London
When the scheme collapsed, Qian fled China using fake documents and resurfaced in the UK. She even tried to use the stolen Bitcoin to buy luxury properties. In 2018, police raided a Hampstead mansion in London and seized devices containing those 61,000 BTC - worth billions today.
The Network Behind the Scam
Qian wasn’t acting alone. Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling admitted in 2024 to helping her launder funds and faces confiscation orders worth over £16 million. Another associate, Jian Wen - once a Chinese takeaway worker in London - was sentenced to nearly seven years for laundering stolen Bitcoin. He went from living above a restaurant to renting multimillion-pound homes and even buying Dubai real estate. Police seized crypto worth over £300 million from him.
The Victims Left Waiting
The 128,000 investors - many aged between 50 and 75, including professionals, bankers, and even legal workers - are still waiting to see if they will ever recover their money. The High Court will decide on November 10th what happens to the seized assets: whether the UK government holds, auctions, or returns them. Chinese victim groups have already petitioned for diplomatic intervention.
A Global Crime, A Global Challenge
This seven-year investigation stretched from China’s investment networks to London’s luxury neighborhoods. It exposed how easily crypto can mask illicit money flows - and how international cooperation is becoming critical in tracking, freezing, and reclaiming digital wealth.
As Bitcoin adoption accelerates, cases like this may only grow more frequent. The question is: how should regulators and the crypto industry work together to prevent the next £5 billion scandal?
