‘Goddess of Wealth’ Jailed for 11 Years in UK Over Multibillion-Dollar Bitcoin Ponzi Scheme
LONDON – A UK court has sentenced Zhimin Qian, the mastermind behind a massive China-based Ponzi scheme, to 11 years and eight months in prison, concluding a high-profile case that involved a record-breaking seizure of Bitcoin.
Qian, 47, who was nicknamed the “goddess of wealth,” orchestrated the fraud between 2014 and 2017, convincing approximately 128,000 investors to pour billions of dollars into her scheme. The operation promised high returns but was, in reality, a classic Ponzi structure, using money from new investors to pay fake profits to earlier ones.
After the scheme collapsed, Qian fled China and evaded capture for years before settling in the UK. Her run from the law ended in 2024 when she was arrested in the historic English city of York.
The investigation led to a monumental seizure by British police, who confiscated 61,000 Bitcoin linked to the scam. At the time of the seizure, the cryptocurrency was valued at over £5 billion ($6.6 billion), believed to be the largest ever recovery in a cryptocurrency-related crime.
In September, Qian pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in London to a charge of acquiring and possessing criminal property. This week, the same court handed down her sentence, marking a significant conclusion to an international fraud case that spanned a decade and victimized tens of thousands.
The case underscores the growing focus of global law enforcement on high-value cryptocurrency crimes and the use of international cooperation to bring fugitives to justice.
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