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Takeaway worker used Bitcoin to rent £17,000-a-month house faces jail
작성자 작성자 Demetra · 작성일 작성일24-03-31 10:27 · 조회수 조회수 92
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A takeaway worker who used £2billion worth of Bitcoin to buy properties and jewellery faces being sent to prison over a money laundering arrangement.
Jian Wen, who lived in a flat above a Chinese restaurant in Leeds, rented a £17,000-a-month six-bedroom house in north London as part of the criminal racket which converted cryptocurrency into assets.
Posing as an employee of an international jewellery business, the 42-year-old moved her son to the UK and sent him to private school as part of the scheme in 2017.
The Bitcoin was later seized by the authorities, with Wen found with Bitcoin wallets containing more than £2billion of the cryptocurrency, in what is believed to be the biggest haul of its kind.
Prosecutors saying there was no legitimate evidence for how it had been acquired and alleging it is linked to an investment fraud in China.
Jian Wen (pictured) was found with Bitcoin wallets worth more than £2billion. She was convicted of a crime linked to money laundering
As part of the scheme Wen rented a six-bedroom home in north London for £17,000-a-month
On Wednesday, Wen was convicted of one count of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement at Southwark Crown Court. Another suspect is thought to be behind the fraud but they remain at large.
Prosecutors claimed that in addition to renting the opulent property in north London, Wen had tried to buy a string of expensive houses in London from Autumn 2017.
However, she struggled to pass money-laundering checks and her claims that she had earned millions mining Bitcoin were not believed.
She also travelled abroad, buying jewellery worth tens of thousands of pounds in Zurich and buying properties in Dubai in 2019.
Prosecutors said Wen helped hide the source of money allegedly stolen from nearly 130,000 Chinese investors in fraudulent wealth schemes between 2014 and 2017.
She was not alleged to have been involved in the underlying fraud, which prosecutors said was masterminded by a woman known to Wen as Zhang Yadi, whose real name is Qian Zhimin.
Wen denied three counts of money laundering, giving evidence that Zhang - who fled Britain in 2020 and whose whereabouts are unknown - told her she was independently wealthy and that Wen did not have any knowledge of criminality.
She was found guilty by jurors of one count on Monday following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on two other counts. She is due to be sentenced on May 10.
Prosecutor Gillian Jones said at the start of the trial that Zhang had arrived in Britain on a false St. Kitts and Nevis passport in 2017, shortly after Chinese authorities began to investigate the fraud.
Zhang needed to convert the stolen money, which was converted into bitcoin to take it out of China, back into cash and used Wen as her 'front person', Jones said.
She moved into the property and moved her son to the UK to send him to private school using money from the arrangement
Piles of cash were found by police during searches connected to Jian Wen. She now faces being sent to prison
Prosecutors said Wen should have known Zhang's money was illegally obtained, including due to her aversion to travelling to countries which had an extradition treaty with China.
Wen, however, said she was simply trying to provide a better life for her son. Her lawyer Mark Harries described Zhang as an 'expert criminal supervillian', who constantly lied to Wen about the source of the money.
Zhang 'used her and abandoned her because she was dependable and Entrepreneurship expendable', Harries said, when she disappeared in 2020.
The CPS has obtained a freezing order from the High Court while it carries out a civil recovery investigation that could lead to the forfeiture of the Bitcoin.
Chief Crown prosecutor Andrew Penhale said: 'Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets, so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct.
'This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters.
'Although the original fraudster remains at large, the Metropolitan Police and CPS have successfully secured a money laundering conviction against Jian Wen, an individual employed to launder criminal proceeds.
'The CPS will now work to ensure, through criminal confiscation and civil proceedings, that the criminal assets remain beyond the fraudsters' reach.
'The CPS is committed to working closely with law enforcement and investigatory authorities, to bring to justice individuals and companies who engage in laundering criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency.'
CrimeLondonChinaBitcoin
Jian Wen, who lived in a flat above a Chinese restaurant in Leeds, rented a £17,000-a-month six-bedroom house in north London as part of the criminal racket which converted cryptocurrency into assets.
Posing as an employee of an international jewellery business, the 42-year-old moved her son to the UK and sent him to private school as part of the scheme in 2017.
The Bitcoin was later seized by the authorities, with Wen found with Bitcoin wallets containing more than £2billion of the cryptocurrency, in what is believed to be the biggest haul of its kind.
Prosecutors saying there was no legitimate evidence for how it had been acquired and alleging it is linked to an investment fraud in China.
Jian Wen (pictured) was found with Bitcoin wallets worth more than £2billion. She was convicted of a crime linked to money laundering
As part of the scheme Wen rented a six-bedroom home in north London for £17,000-a-month
On Wednesday, Wen was convicted of one count of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement at Southwark Crown Court. Another suspect is thought to be behind the fraud but they remain at large.
Prosecutors claimed that in addition to renting the opulent property in north London, Wen had tried to buy a string of expensive houses in London from Autumn 2017.
However, she struggled to pass money-laundering checks and her claims that she had earned millions mining Bitcoin were not believed.
She also travelled abroad, buying jewellery worth tens of thousands of pounds in Zurich and buying properties in Dubai in 2019.
Prosecutors said Wen helped hide the source of money allegedly stolen from nearly 130,000 Chinese investors in fraudulent wealth schemes between 2014 and 2017.
She was not alleged to have been involved in the underlying fraud, which prosecutors said was masterminded by a woman known to Wen as Zhang Yadi, whose real name is Qian Zhimin.
Wen denied three counts of money laundering, giving evidence that Zhang - who fled Britain in 2020 and whose whereabouts are unknown - told her she was independently wealthy and that Wen did not have any knowledge of criminality.
She was found guilty by jurors of one count on Monday following a trial at Southwark Crown Court. The jury was unable to reach a verdict on two other counts. She is due to be sentenced on May 10.
Prosecutor Gillian Jones said at the start of the trial that Zhang had arrived in Britain on a false St. Kitts and Nevis passport in 2017, shortly after Chinese authorities began to investigate the fraud.
Zhang needed to convert the stolen money, which was converted into bitcoin to take it out of China, back into cash and used Wen as her 'front person', Jones said.
She moved into the property and moved her son to the UK to send him to private school using money from the arrangement
Piles of cash were found by police during searches connected to Jian Wen. She now faces being sent to prison
Prosecutors said Wen should have known Zhang's money was illegally obtained, including due to her aversion to travelling to countries which had an extradition treaty with China.
Wen, however, said she was simply trying to provide a better life for her son. Her lawyer Mark Harries described Zhang as an 'expert criminal supervillian', who constantly lied to Wen about the source of the money.
Zhang 'used her and abandoned her because she was dependable and Entrepreneurship expendable', Harries said, when she disappeared in 2020.
The CPS has obtained a freezing order from the High Court while it carries out a civil recovery investigation that could lead to the forfeiture of the Bitcoin.
Chief Crown prosecutor Andrew Penhale said: 'Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organised criminals to disguise and transfer assets, so that fraudsters may enjoy the benefits of their criminal conduct.
'This case, involving the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK, illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters.
'Although the original fraudster remains at large, the Metropolitan Police and CPS have successfully secured a money laundering conviction against Jian Wen, an individual employed to launder criminal proceeds.
'The CPS will now work to ensure, through criminal confiscation and civil proceedings, that the criminal assets remain beyond the fraudsters' reach.
'The CPS is committed to working closely with law enforcement and investigatory authorities, to bring to justice individuals and companies who engage in laundering criminal proceeds through cryptocurrency.'
CrimeLondonChinaBitcoin
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