Chinese investors defrauded in the Zhimin Qian Ponzi scheme
have asked the UK High Court to reject a government-backed redress plan for
61,000 seized Bitcoin. They argue that the proposal to route compensation through a
Chinese scheme could strip them of the £3.2bn haul’s gains and leave British
authorities holding much of the upside, according to the Financial Times.
London police seized about 61,000 Bitcoin during an
investigation into Chinese national Qian, who ran an investment fraud between
2014 and 2017 that targeted more than 128,000 investors in China.
Qian converted proceeds into Bitcoin and moved the funds to
the UK, where officers later recovered the assets from electronic devices at a
Hampstead property.
Chinese Victims Contest UK Redress Plan
Qian evaded authorities for nearly five years while amassing one of the largest cryptocurrency fortunes ever seized in the UK. She was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison last November.
A Chinese woman has been sentenced in the UK to more than 11 years in prison for running a $6.6 billion Bitcoin Ponzi scheme that defrauded over 128,000 people worldwide. pic.twitter.com/HRxK4J8nqN
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) November 13, 2025
She converted tens of millions of pounds into Bitcoin and entered Britain on a false passport to live in luxury rented properties with accomplices. Bitcoin’s price has since risen sharply since the fraud took
place, lifting the value of the seized stash to around £3.2bn at current levels
of roughly £52,300 per coin.
Victims are now using section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime
Act to seek recovery of the assets through the English courts rather than
through an out-of-court scheme proposed by UK authorities.
Under that plan, compensation funds would be sent to China
and distributed via an existing redress mechanism there, while the UK would
likely retain a significant share of the remaining Bitcoin.
Read more: UK Court Hands Nearly 12-Year Sentence in Massive £5B Bitcoin Case: Report
Law firm Candey, which represents about 5,700 victims, told
the High Court it has concerns over whether the proposed scheme would run in
line with principles of fairness, warning that some clients “could stand to
recover nothing without access to justice before the English courts.”
Law Firms and Prosecutors Clash over Access and Fees
The firm said its fee arrangements, which cap total charges
for UK and China legal teams at 18% of any sums recovered, allow victims
without resources to pursue claims while keeping the “vast majority” of any
recovery.
A preliminary High Court hearing in July will decide whether
English or Chinese law governs the victims’ claims to the seized Bitcoin, with
a 22 May deadline set for section 281 applications.
The court has appointed Fieldfisher as lead firm for
claimants on the governing-law issues, while authorities in London and Beijing
work on an agreement to divide the assets and route compensation through China.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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