UK court ruling boosts government’s chances of keeping $5 billion in seized bitcoin
The decision concerns 61,000 BTC seized by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation into Zhimin Qian, who pleaded guilty to defrauding thousands of people in China.
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- A London court ruled that Chinese law governs fraud victims’ claims to 61,000 bitcoin, worth about £3.8 billion, because the underlying scheme and losses occurred in China.
- Zhimin Qian pleaded guilty to defrauding more than 128,000 investors through a Ponzi scheme before converting the proceeds into bitcoin and fleeing to Britain in 2017.
- The ruling does not determine ownership of the seized bitcoin, but it narrows victims’ path to recovery and increases the likelihood that the British government will retain most of it; the victims’ lawyers are appealing.
