The High Court of England and Wales has ruled that claims regarding 61,000 BTC seized by British police must be adjudicated under Chinese law. The assets, valued at approximately £3.8 billion or $5 billion, were linked to a financial pyramid scheme orchestrated by Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, in China between 2014 and 2017.
Judge Mark Turner supported the application of Chinese law, noting that the fraudulent scheme, investment contracts, and initial financial losses originated in China. Victims had sought the application of English law, which would have allowed them to trace stolen funds more effectively. The legal firm Fieldfisher, representing the victims, plans to appeal the decision.
The scheme involved at least 128,409 investment contracts and affected over 128,000 people, with approximately 16,000 participating in the British compensation process. The organizers collected about ¥40.2 billion, converting a portion into Bitcoin through the Huobi exchange, OTC deals, and mining equipment.
Following the discovery of the assets in 2018, Zhimin Qian was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison in November 2025. Her accomplice, Seng Hock Ling, received four years and 11 months, while another assistant, Jian Wen, was sentenced to six years and eight months in May 2024 for money laundering.
