A former Chinese takeaway worker in the UK has been convicted of laundering a staggering £3.4 billion worth of Bitcoin into luxury real estate and other assets.
Jian Wen, 42, was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court on Monday of entering into a money laundering arrangement after a five-year investigation by London’s Metropolitan Police. Authorities describe it as the largest crypto seizure of its kind in the United Kingdom’s history.
Despite her modest background living in a flat above a restaurant in Leeds, Wen amassed a colossal Bitcoin fortune of over £2 billion at the time of her 2018 arrest. She then began an audacious scheme to convert the ill-gotten digital currency into a lavish lifestyle of mansions, jewels, and private schooling for her son.
“The sheer scale of this operation demonstrates how international criminals seek to exploit cryptocurrency for illegal purposes,” stated Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Prins, who led the investigation that involved multiple searches, seized devices, and thousands of files requiring translation from Mandarin.
After moving to a lavish £200,000+ per year rental home in London in 2017, Jian Wen posed as an employee for an international jewelry firm as she attempted to purchase multi-million dollar properties across the city. However, her struggles to pass money laundering checks and dubious claims of legitimately “mining” Bitcoin raised suspicions.
Authorities state another unidentified suspect is believed to be the mastermind behind the sprawling fraud scheme that enabled Wen to launder the cryptocurrency into tangible assets. She later expanded her purchases abroad, acquiring jewels worth tens of thousands in Zurich and real estate in Dubai as recently as 2019.
The Crown Prosecution Service has frozen Jian Wen’s assets as it pursues civil forfeiture of the Bitcoin fortune, currently valued at over £3.4 billion due to the cryptocurrency’s volatile price fluctuations since her initial arrest.
CPS prosecutor, Andrew Penhale, stated that:
“Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used by organized criminals to disguise and transfer assets…this case illustrates the scale of criminal proceeds available to those fraudsters.”
As authorities globally continue to crack down on crypto-enabled money laundering and cyber-enabled fraud, Jian Wen’s case stands out for the sheer enormity of the illicit fortune she temporarily enjoyed before her shocking criminal past caught up to her unassuming outward persona.
She now awaits sentencing on May 10th for her role in the audacious scheme to legitimize one of the largest unofficial Bitcoin treasures ever uncovered by law enforcement.
