61,000 Bitcoin seized: Chinese woman confesses to fraud in the UK
For years, a Chinese woman has been taking money out of people's pockets in her home country. In the UK, she tried to spend the Bitcoin – and was arrested.
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In the UK, a 47-year-old woman from China has pleaded guilty to illegally obtaining 61,000 Bitcoin. It is one of the largest sums of cryptocurrency seized by law enforcement authorities, according to the Metropolitan Police in the capital London. At the time of the seizure, Bitcoin was worth 5.5 billion British pounds (around 6.3 billion euros). The confession and the seizure of the billions were preceded by years of investigations. The woman accumulated the assets between 2014 and 2017 and converted them into Bitcoin. She mainly convinced elderly people to invest their money with her.
Accomplice already convicted
As the police summarize, the woman defrauded more than 128,000 people in China before leaving her home country with false identity documents and traveling to the UK. There, she attempted to launder the cryptocurrency and purchase property. The investigation began in 2018 when information about the illegally acquired crypto assets was received. This was followed by years of investigations in various countries, and thousands of documents were examined. The confession made on Monday was the result of hard work in the UK and China, added Isabella Grotto, who led the investigation.
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According to the public prosecutor's office, it was ensured that the cryptocurrency remains out of reach of the criminals. According to the BBC, however, it is not clear what will happen to the assets. The news broadcaster cites an indication that Bitcoin has gained more than enough value thanks to the price increase to compensate the victims of the original fraud. However, there are also reports that the British government is considering keeping the assets in their entirety. The Ministry of Finance and the Home Office have not yet responded to an enquiry about this. According to the BBC, the punishment awaiting the fraudster has yet to be decided. An accomplice was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
(mho)
