China illegally raised over 40 billion yuan and exchanged it for 61000 bitcoins to escape to the UK. Qian Zhimin pleaded guilty in court

According to Reuters, on September 29th local time, Qian Zhimin, the main culprit of the largest Bitcoin money laundering case in the UK and the illegal fundraising case of Tianjin Blue Sky Grid in China, appeared in London for trial and admitted to the relevant charges of Bitcoin money laundering.

On the same day, 47 year old Qian Zhimin appeared in Southwark Criminal Court in London and subsequently decided to change his previous defense, admitting one charge of "possession of proceeds of crime" and one charge of "transfer of proceeds of crime". The case involves 61000 bitcoins, valued at approximately RMB 48 billion at market price on September 28th.

Subsequently, Judge Hales remanded Qian Zhimin in custody awaiting sentencing, with the specific sentencing date to be determined.

Qian Zhimin's lawyer stated in a statement released after his arrest last year that Qian Zhimin denied "the fraud allegations made against him by the Chinese side".

Photo of Qian Zhimin

According to previous reports, the trial is expected to last for 12 weeks and will end before Christmas; Under the framework of judicial cooperation between China and the UK, Chinese law enforcement officers will personally appear in London to testify, and multiple Chinese victims will appear in court remotely via video conferencing in Tianjin.

The illegal fundraising case of Blue Sky Grey in Tianjin, China occurred in 2017, involving a total amount of over 43 billion yuan and nearly 130000 victims across 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in China. Qian Zhimin is the actual controller of the company.

After the product explosion in 2017, Qian Zhimin converted illegal gains into Bitcoin and transferred them overseas, and used a fake passport to escape to the UK. In May 2021, the police seized and frozen 61000 bitcoins from Qian Zhimin's device, which is the largest ever in the UK and one of the largest cryptocurrencies seized by law enforcement agencies worldwide.

In April 2024, Qian Zhimin was arrested in the UK. On October 21, 2024, Qian Zhimin denied all charges of illegal possession and transfer of cryptocurrency at Southwark Criminal Court in London.

The issue of compensation for 130000 victims in China is the key. Even if someone is sentenced and Bitcoin is deducted, there are still many procedures to be followed in order to fairly distribute the money to the victims. We hope that a plan can be formulated as soon as possible to reduce the waiting time for the victims.

腐宅的信仰 发表于 2025-9-30 23:39
The issue of compensation for 130000 victims in China is the key. Even if someone is sentenced and B ...

It is not an individual's the final say that the victims should be identified clearly. There are no victims, and the participants illegally raise funds and confiscate all of them.

In this cross-border lawsuit, the British side charges a commission, as well as trial fees and defendant litigation costs. The British lawyer will encourage her to constantly appeal and make the litigation costs sky high. Those with low final value usually don't have enough money to repay China, while those with high value, like this one, have 50% left. They also need to consider monetizing Bitcoin through fiat auction, making it easy for the UK to earn billions

The lack of extradition regulations between China and the UK has indeed made it more difficult to pursue fugitives, but the Qian Zhimin case has proven another path: it can still be handled through judicial cooperation on a case by case basis! Our country submits complete evidence, and the UK will try the money laundering crime according to its own laws, and then negotiate the transfer. He can still comply with our country's laws and accept the final trial, but it just takes a little more effort.

Alice 发表于 2025-9-30 23:39
The lack of extradition regulations between China and the UK has indeed made it more difficult to pu ...

This is not very effective. Even if sentenced in the UK, one can spend some money to get out of jail. We need to learn from Russia and the United States, and people should be extradited back. If we can't come back, we need to get the money back. In the end, we need to get the money back, otherwise the prisoner won't see the sun of tomorrow. Many prisoners in Russia ran away and ended up inexplicably going to see God, living in fear and anxiety even if they didn't. Prisoners in our country live very comfortably and even flaunt their wealth online in a high-profile manner. Criminals are too arrogant and domineering.

Christina 发表于 2025-9-30 23:39
This is not very effective. Even if sentenced in the UK, one can spend some money to get out of ja ...

Do you know why this road is passable? Because of this money laundering crime, the UK can keep this money, and even if China negotiates, the UK can also keep a lot of it! The main purpose of extraditing these economic criminals domestically is not only to sentence them, but also to recover these funds. So this method is the most helpless one.

The amount of over 40 billion yuan involved in the case is not a small amount. According to Chinese law, such a large amount of illegal fundraising, even if Qian Zhimin pleads guilty, it is highly likely that he will be sentenced to more than ten years in prison, or even life imprisonment. It is almost impossible to give a lighter sentence, as he has deceived over 100000 people.

东海生 发表于 2025-9-30 23:40
The amount of over 40 billion yuan involved in the case is not a small amount. According to Chinese  ...

More than 40 billion yuan is estimated to account for the current market value of Bitcoin. Perhaps billions were defrauded back then, right?

Can this criminal be extradited back to China without extradition regulations between China and the UK?