Reuters states a British-Chinese woman, 42, has been given a six-year and eight-month jail sentence for turning Bitcoin into real estate and jewelry, among other things.
Jian Wen could have been jailed for 14 years on several charges, but in March, he was found guilty of one money laundering charge. The Metropolitan Police and a money-laundering inspector searched her home in 2018 and found a safety deposit box with 61,000 Bitcoins inside.
Bitcoin Laundering Mastermind Fugitive
Yadi Zhang, who lived with Wen, disappeared after the search. Later, the police discovered that Zhang was the brain behind a huge scheme to launder money. He had scammed 130,000 Chinese investors before running away to the UK. Zhang is said to have hired Wen, who used to work in takeout, to be her “front person” in a fake gold business.
Zhang, whose real name is Zhimin Qian, wanted to become queen of a small European country. According to her diaries, she planned to spend at least $5 million on a crown to make her dream come true.
Wen insisted she was innocent, saying she had no idea about the large-scale fraud and that Zhang had made her look rich. Wen said her main goal was to give her son, who was now attending an elite school, a better future. After allegedly running away with about $250 million, Zhang is still on the run. He is wanted by Interpol.
