Headline: UK orders convicted money launderer to repay $7.6M in connection with Zhimin Qian crypto fraud The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has won a Confiscation Order requiring Seng Hok Ling — described by prosecutors as a “professional money launderer” — to hand over more than £5 million (about $7.6 million) within three months or face an extra eight years behind bars. Seng, a Malaysian national, admitted receiving 83.7 BTC from convicted fraudster Zhimin Qian between February and April 2024. Prosecutors say he cashed out those funds through UAE bank accounts and via intermediaries who converted the crypto to cash. Seng was sentenced in November 2025 to four years and 11 months for a money-laundering offence; Qian (who also used the name Yadi Zhang) received 11 years and eight months after pleading guilty to two money-laundering counts. “This was part of a sophisticated money laundering operation which laundered many millions of pounds from the proceeds of crime,” said Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor for the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division. The CPS and the Metropolitan Police secured the confiscation order against Seng to recover proceeds tied to that operation. The case ties back to one of China’s largest modern Ponzi schemes. Between 2014 and 2017 Qian ran Lantian Gerui, reportedly defrauding about 128,000 mostly elderly investors of roughly $600 million in pensions and savings. After payouts stopped in 2017, Qian converted some of the proceeds into Bitcoin and fled China. She resurfaced in the UK using a passport in the name Yadi Zhang and attempted to cash out and buy luxury London property, but ran into KYC obstacles. Instead she rented a Hampstead Heath mansion for roughly $21,000 a month; her diaries—seized during the investigation—allegedly recorded extravagant plans including buying a Swedish castle and an aspiration to become “Queen of Liberland.” Qian’s arrest in York in April 2024 led to an unprecedented seizure: raids recovered 61,000 BTC, the largest crypto seizure in UK history. Those coins are currently valued at roughly $5.4 billion; civil proceedings are ongoing to determine how the assets will be distributed. While Lantian Gerui investors were defrauded in fiat (not crypto) and their losses total an estimated $600 million, the immense current value of the seized Bitcoin raises complex questions about victim compensation versus government forfeiture. Legal experts note the UK’s Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 enables authorities to seize fraud proceeds even when they originate overseas. “The law allows the UK to retain such funds, typically directing them to the Treasury or law enforcement,” said Nick Harris, CEO of crypto asset recovery firm CryptoCare. Harris has also floated the idea of a UK “strategic reserve” of seized crypto—using some proceeds to bolster the country’s position in the global crypto economy while creating separate mechanisms to compensate victims. For now, the immediate focus is on recovering the confiscation order from Seng and resolving civil claims over the 61,000 BTC as courts decide how to prioritize victims, creditors and state claims. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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