China Moves to Confiscate $5 Billion in Bitcoin From Fraudster Who Fled to UK

Chinese prosecutors are pursuing the confiscation of roughly 62,000 bitcoins — worth about $5 billion at current prices — tied to one of the country's largest fraud cases on record, according to a report from Shanghai-based The Paper.

The Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin said on September 28 that it accepted the prosecution's application to confiscate the illicit assets of Qian Zhimin, the alleged controller of Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology. The application targets a bitcoin hoard now sitting in British custody after one of the more unusual cross-border asset sagas in crypto enforcement.

What did Qian Zhimin allegedly do?

Prosecutors allege Qian recruited associates to sell fake wealth management products nationwide between 2014 and 2017, without approval from China's financial regulators, while promising investors guaranteed returns. The scheme raised approximately RMB 40.3 billion — about $2.8 billion.

Investor cash paid off earlier participants in classic Ponzi fashion, according to The Paper's account of the prosecution's case. The rest went into the bitcoin holdings, property, cars and jewelry. Little of the money funded legitimate business operations.

As the scheme unraveled in July 2017, Qian fled to the UK carrying computers that held the bitcoin wallets. British authorities later seized the crypto assets and other property: roughly 61,900 BTC plus cash, jewelry and other cryptocurrencies.

Why does UK law matter here?

The case took a significant turn when the UK High Court ruled that Chinese law, not UK law, governs ownership disputes over the seized bitcoin. That choice of law carries real money. The coins have appreciated enormously since 2017, and whether victims share in those gains depends on which legal system applies.

The UK's Crown Prosecution Service says victims may recover their losses through China's compensation mechanism. Not everyone accepts that answer. Lawyers at Fieldfisher, acting for some victims, are considering an appeal. Further hearings will determine whether victims can prove their entitlement to the assets — a burden that could stretch recovery timelines considerably.

What happens next in Tianjin?

Back in China, the confiscation track is now formally moving. Victims can register to participate in asset recovery proceedings through a WeChat platform, and a six-month notice period will run before the formal trial begins. That puts a concrete clock on the process: months of registration and verification before any distribution question is settled.

The backdrop is China's hard line on digital assets. Beijing banned crypto trading and bitcoin mining in 2021, among the strictest regimes anywhere. This case shows the enforcement edge of that posture extending abroad — with Chinese courts asserting claims over bitcoin held in UK custody and British courts agreeing, in principle, that ownership questions belong under Chinese law.

For the thousands of investors owed money, the practical question is narrower: how much of a $5 billion stack survives the legal process, and how it gets divided between two jurisdictions with very different recovery mechanisms. The Fieldfisher appeal decision and the Tianjin trial dates will set the pace.