British-Chinese woman jailed for 6 years for pretending to hold bitcoins in $6B scam

In one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams, British-Chinese Jian Wen was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for her role in defrauding bitcoin from a $6 billion investment scam in China.

Wen, 42, was found guilty in March of extorting bitcoins on behalf of her former boss Yadi Zhang, whose real name is Zimin Qian.

According to a recent report, Qian has been charged in China with defrauding nearly 130,000 investors out of $5 billion.

Although Wen was not charged with direct involvement in the fraud itself, she was convicted of converting the bitcoins into cash and using the money to buy property, jewelry and other luxury goods.

In the year In 2018, the United Kingdom police were involved in a significant operation involving a Bitcoin scam worth more than $2.2 billion.

During the hearing, Wen's lawyer said she was “tricked and used” by her boss, adding that she did not know the criminal source of the BTC she was dealing with.

However, the judge at Southwark Crown Court rejected these claims, stating on direct evidence that Wen had full knowledge that she was collecting criminal funds.

The judge also highlighted the complexity and premeditated nature of Wen's money laundering process.

As criminal organizations continue to use cryptocurrencies to hide and transfer illicit assets, UK authorities have vowed to crack down on such activities, with a leading detective saying they will “leave no stone unturned” to catch criminals exploiting cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes.