The case led to the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK’s history.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has convicted a former takeaway worker with money laundering after investigating her role in a massive international fraudulent operation involving a whopping £2 billion ($2.5 billion) worth of bitcoin (BTC).
Prosecutors said the convict, Jian Wen, was living in a flat above a Chinese restaurant in Leeds when she became involved in converting the stolen BTC into assets, including multi-million-pound houses and jewelry worth thousands of pounds.
Largest Crypto Seizure in the UK’s History
Wen has been under investigation after Bitcoin wallets carrying $2.5 billion worth of BTC were seized. Prosecutors have described this as the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK’s history.
According to the investigation, Wen had lived a “modest” lifestyle in Leeds, earning just around £12,800 ($16,339) in 2015 and £5,979 ($7,632) in the year that followed.
However, upon meeting another Chinese national (believed to be linked to the fraud), Wen’s lifestyle changed completely.
Prosecutors said her new lifestyle included moving into a six-bedroom house in London in 2017, with a rental cost of around £17,000 ($21,699) monthly. She also moved her son to the UK to attend a private school. All this was done while posing as an employee of an international jewelry business.
Also, in 2017, she tried to acquire expensive houses in London but failed to pass money-laundering checks due to the real source of her income.
Wen also traveled abroad, purchasing ten thousand pounds worth of jewelry in Zurich and two properties in Dubai worth more than half a million pounds in 2019.
Wen claimed she earned her fortune by mining bitcoin, and during investigations, she told authorities that she had acquired the BTC and denied knowing the crypto asset had been stolen.
A Larger Operation
Prosecutors found that the acquired BTC was linked to an investment fraud in China, and the main fraud was executed by another individual who remains at large.
Wen was convicted of one count of entering into or becoming concerned in a money laundering arrangement by a jury at Southwark Crown Court on March 20.
While her conviction is linked to laundering 150 BTC, authorities said investigations linked her to an international fraudulent operation, which led to the seizure of 61,000 BTC.
Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 10.
