Prosecutors contend that Qian Zhimin, said to be in charge of Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, brought on partners to push sham investment products across China from 2014 to 2017. The offers promised guaranteed returns and lacked approval from financial regulators.
They say the pitch pulled in RMB 40.3 billion, or $2.8 billion. According to the allegations, later investors' cash was used to pay earlier participants, while money flowed into bitcoin holdings, real estate, cars, and jewelry, with little spent on legitimate business activity. Authorities are now working to seize nearly 62,000 bitcoins, a trove valued around $5 billion at current prices.
In July 2017, as the scheme fell apart, Qian traveled to the UK with computers capable of unlocking the bitcoin wallets. Officials in the UK subsequently took control of the cryptocurrency and other property - about 61,900 BTC plus cash, jewelry, and additional digital assets.
A pivotal ruling from the UK High Court held that Chinese law, rather than UK law, governs the ownership disputes involving the seized bitcoin. Because the coins have climbed sharply since 2017, the governing law affects whether victims share in those gains.
When complex stories touch crypto and law, stay clearheaded with the free Market Briefs every morning.
The Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin stated that on September 28 it formally took up the prosecutors' bid to confiscate Qian's illicit assets. Victims may sign up via a WeChat portal to join the recovery process, and there is a six month notice window before the formal trial starts. The UK's Crown Prosecution Service says losses may be recoverable through China's compensation mechanism, while lawyers at Fieldfisher, representing some victims, are weighing an appeal. Subsequent hearings will decide if victims can establish their entitlement to the assets.
China still enforces some of the toughest crypto restrictions globally, having prohibited digital asset trading and bitcoin mining in 2021. The bottom line: a multibillion dollar bitcoin stash sits at the intersection of courts and crypto, and any payout timeline will depend on legal outcomes as much as price moves.
Markets and regulations can be confusing, so get a calm daily explainer in the free Market Briefs newsletter.
