In a high-profile case involving a large cryptocurrency fraud, a British-Chinese language lady, Jian Wen, has been sentenced to 6 years and eight months in jail for her function in laundering Bitcoin proceeds from a $6 billion funding rip-off in China.
Wen, aged 42, was discovered responsible in March of laundering Bitcoin on behalf of her former boss, Yadi Zhang, whose actual identify is Zhimin Qian.
In keeping with a latest report, Qian is alleged to have defrauded round 130,000 buyers in China, amassing a whopping $5 billion by way of an funding rip-off.
Whereas Wen was not accused of direct involvement within the fraud itself, she was convicted of laundering the proceeds by changing the Bitcoin into money and utilizing the funds to buy property, jewellery, and different luxurious objects.
In 2018, UK police seized over $2.2 billion price of bitcoin associated to the alleged fraud in a big operation.
In the course of the trial, Wen’s lawyer claimed that she had been “duped and used” by her boss, asserting that she was unaware of the legal origins of the BTC she was dealing with.
Nonetheless, the decide in Southwark Crown Court docket rejected these and acknowledged instantly that the proof exhibits Wen had full data she was laundering legal proceeds.
The decide additionally highlighted the complicated and premeditated nature of Wen’s cash laundering operation.
With legal entities more and more utilizing cryptocurrencies to disguise and switch illicit property, UK authorities have vowed to crack down on such actions, with the lead investigator stating that they’ll “go away no stone unturned” to catch criminals exploiting cryptocurrencies for unlawful functions.
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