{"id":14429,"date":"2026-10-13T15:48:51","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14429"},"modified":"2026-10-13T15:48:51","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T15:48:51","slug":"uk-court-puts-5-billion-bitcoin-fortune-beyond-easy-reach-of-chinese-fraud-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptonews.uk.com\/?p=14429","title":{"rendered":"UK court puts $5 billion Bitcoin fortune beyond easy reach of Chinese fraud victims"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A London judge rejected Chinese fraud victims’ bid to use English law to claim more than 61,000 seized Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

In an Oct. 12 ruling, High Court Justice Mark Turner sided with British prosecutors, determining that Chinese law must govern ownership claims over the cryptocurrency, currently worth approximately $5 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe applicable law is Chinese law,\u201d Turner wrote in the judgment, rejecting arguments that English property and trust principles should determine the investors’ entitlement.<\/p>\n

The decision leaves thousands of victims facing a potentially difficult recovery battle, as proving they lost money to the fraud does not automatically establish ownership of the Bitcoin acquired with its proceeds.<\/p>\n

How a Chinese investment fraud became a $5 billion Bitcoin dispute<\/h2>\n

The case stems from investment schemes operated by Zhimin Qian through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology and associated businesses between 2014 and 2017.<\/p>\n

According to the judgment’s agreed factual background, the schemes collected approximately 40.23 billion yuan (\u00a34.1 billion) through at least 128,409 investment contracts.<\/p>\n

However, the court cautioned that the number of contracts should not be mistaken for the number of individual victims.<\/p>\n

The records also revealed substantial repayments to some participants. Approximately 34.1 billion yuan (\u00a33.4 billion) flowed back to investors during the scheme’s operation, although others received nothing.<\/p>\n

Qian converted part of the proceeds into Bitcoin, including purchases of more than 100,000 BTC through an account on cryptocurrency exchange Huobi, alongside over-the-counter transactions conducted in China.<\/p>\n

After fleeing China in 2017, she relocated to Britain, where authorities subsequently seized devices, private keys and other assets linked to more than 61,000 Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

The recovered cryptocurrency became the subject of civil recovery proceedings initiated by Britain’s Director of Public Prosecutions under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.<\/p>\n

Chinese investors later sought to establish ownership of the coins, arguing that English legal principles could let them trace their stolen investments into the cryptocurrency Qian acquired.<\/p>\n

They argued that fraudulent investment contracts could be rescinded, creating trust-based ownership interests that followed the money into Bitcoin.<\/p>\n

British prosecutors opposed that approach, maintaining that the original transactions and alleged acquisition of ownership rights occurred in China.<\/p>\n

Turner agreed, finding that the investors, perpetrators, payments and cryptocurrency purchases were overwhelmingly connected to China.<\/p>\n

The judge also rejected the argument that Bitcoin’s eventual presence in Britain should determine which country’s property laws applied.<\/p>\n