The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) of the United Kingdom has taken decisive action against Sen Hok Ling, a Malaysian national and financier for convicted Chinese Bitcoin fraudster Zhimin Qian (also known as Yadi Zhang). The CPS has ordered Ling to return $7.6 million or face additional jail time. Ling was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison last November after pleading guilty to money laundering charges.
The case is linked to a massive Ponzi scheme operated by Qian in China between 2014 and 2017 through a company called Lantian Gerui. The scheme defrauded over 128,000 elderly investors out of an estimated $600 million in pensions and life savings. After payouts stopped in 2017, Qian converted some illicit funds into cryptocurrency and fled to the UK.
Prosecutors detailed that Ling received 83.7 BTC from Qian between February and April 2024, which he then cashed out in the United Arab Emirates, moving the funds through various accounts and third-party platforms. "Ling took part in a sophisticated money laundering operation which laundered many millions of pounds from the proceeds of crime," stated Adrian Foster, Chief Crown Prosecutor of the CPS Proceeds of Crime Division.
Qian herself was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison. Following her arrest in York in April 2024, UK authorities raided her London mansion and seized 61,000 BTC, valued at approximately $5.4 billion, marking the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history. The disposition of these seized funds remains under debate, with civil proceedings ongoing to determine if victims will be reimbursed or if the assets will be directed to the UK Treasury.
Nico Harris, CEO of digital assets recovery firm CryptoCare, noted that the UK's Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 empowers authorities to seize funds from overseas fraud. He suggested the UK could establish a strategic reserve with the recovered assets.
