A British citizen was accused of laundering $6 billion worth of bitcoins
The defendant denied all the charges. She did not know about the alleged fraud in China or that the money she traded was obtained by criminal means, her lawyer claims.
A London jury found 42-year-old Jian Wen guilty of laundering $6 billion worth of bitcoins related to fraud in China. This is reported by Bloomberg.
In the period from 2017 to 2022, the accused helped to legalize criminal funds of a certain Zhimin Qian, whom the prosecutor's office called a "supervillain" during the hearings.
According to the investigation, the fraudulent scheme organized in China caused damage to more than 130,000 investors.
During a raid on Wen and Jian's place of residence in 2018, the police confiscated the first cryptocurrency worth more than $2.2 billion.
The defendant denied all the charges. She did not know about the alleged fraud in China or that the money she traded was obtained by criminal means, her lawyer claims.
Jian arrived in the UK in September 2017 under the assumed name Yadi Zhang, and then escaped in 2020 two days before being interrogated by the London police. After fleeing the country, her whereabouts are unknown.
Wen worked at a fast food restaurant in East London before she began working with Jiang. In a few weeks, she went from living in the basement of the establishment to a luxurious lifestyle that included a six-bedroom house.
"We have managed to disrupt a complex economic crime operation, the scale of which demonstrates how international fraudsters seek to use cryptocurrency," the London police said.
Jian was found guilty only of money laundering, the authorities failed to prove her involvement in financial fraud. Probably, the accused faces only a large monetary fine.
Source: https://forklog.com/news/grazhdanku-velikobritanii-obvinili-v-otmyvanii-bitkoinov-na-6-mlrd
