A Chinese woman flees to the UK with 50 billion Bitcoin, and the Tianjin police pursue the case across borders.

The Tianjin police issued a situation report on the “Tianjin Blue Sky Ge Rui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. suspected illegal public deposit case,” stating that the public security organs are still cooperating with UK law enforcement agencies in cross-border fugitive pursuit and asset recovery. Qian Zhiming, the main suspect in China's largest Bitcoin Money Laundering case, appeared in court in the UK, confessed in court, and admitted to holding and transferring illicitly obtained encryption. The case involves 128,000 victims and concerns 61,000 Bitcoins (equivalent to nearly 50 billion yuan).

The Multiple Identities of Mysterious Female Boss Qian Zhiming

(The person on the far right wearing a mask is Qian Zhiming, Source: X)

Surrounding Lan Tiange Rui and Qian Zhiming, a series of questions have been raised by the public: Who exactly is Qian Zhiming? How did she successfully escape? What will happen to the 61,000 Bitcoins? Almost no “investor” knows the details about Qian Zhiming; what everyone hears is only Lan Tiange Rui's public promotional messages and unverified legends.

The Blue Sky Ge Rui promotion states that “Hua Hua” graduated from Tsinghua University with dual doctoral degrees and studied in the United States, understanding finance. The “investor” Han Xinghai from Shenyang heard that “Hua Hua” brought back a lot of technology from the United States. He once asked “Hua Hua” at a promotional meeting why she did not allow photos to be taken, and she said it was because the American technology she brought back would lead to sanctions against her if disclosed.

In late April 2024, British media reported that Qian Zhimin was arrested in the UK, and that she provided the court with a date of birth of November 10, 1990, under the name Yadi Zhang. However, according to sources familiar with the situation who wished to remain anonymous, this date may be inaccurate. The sources stated that Qian Zhimin was born in September 1978 in Rugao, Jiangsu, has a college degree, and has been married before, later getting divorced. This means that Qian Zhimin is actually around 47 years old, not the 34 years old she claimed to the British court.

According to China News Weekly, in 2013, she was involved in a pyramid scheme case that occurred in Hefei, Anhui. At that time, Qian Zhimin used the alias “Li Xia”. The case involved numerous participants and a huge amount of funds. After the incident, some people were arrested and convicted, while Qian Zhimin, as the operator, has been on the run. This may explain why, during her later operation of Lantian Ge Rui, Qian Zhimin deliberately maintained a mysterious image and was unwilling to appear in public openly.

The Multiple Identities and Fraud History of Qian Zhiming

Real Identity: Born in 1978 in Jiangsu Rugao, with a college degree, approximately 47 years old

2013 Hefei Pyramid Scheme Case: Using the alias “Li Xia”, operated the Hong Kong UBS International pyramid scheme organization.

2014-2017 Blue Sky Ge Rui: Alias “Hua Hua”, orchestrated 40.2 billion yuan in illegal fundraising.

2017 Fled to the UK: Using the alias “Zhang Yadi”, falsely reported age as born in 1990

During an interview with a reporter from China News Weekly, not just one investor from Blue Sky Ge Rui recalled the scene when “Hua Hua” deliberately covered his face as he appeared before them. It was the autumn of 2016 when Zhang Li attended a promotional event organized by Blue Sky Ge Rui with thousands of participants in Beijing, and Qian Zhiming made an appearance. It was a crazy scene: Qian Zhiming, wearing a powder pink veil, was seated in a wheelchair, and was lifted up along with the wheelchair by people in the aisle leading to the podium, while the crowd raised Qian Zhiming high and shouted slogans, one of which was “Three Generations of Wealth.”

Carefully Designed 40.2 Billion Ponzi Scheme

On March 31, 2014, the fugitive Qian Zhimin registered Lantian Gerui in Tianjin. Lantian Gerui manages the sales of national financial products across seven major regions: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Northeast, East China, South China, Central China, Northwest, and Southwest. From April 2014 to August 2017, Lantian Gerui launched ten financial products, luring investors with an investment return rate of 1 to 3 times, illegally absorbing public deposits.

Zheng Zhengge is a teacher from Wuxi County, Chongqing. He came into contact with Blue Sky Ge Rui in 2016, introduced by his high school classmate. At that time, Zheng Zhengge had a try-it-out attitude and invested a product of 60,000 yuan each with his wife. “We observed for a period of time, and it indeed returned money on time, so after more than 20 months, we might have returned the principal, and the full return had two or three times the profit. Therefore, later we invested more money until Blue Sky Ge Rui exploded in July 2017, with a total investment of more than 1 million yuan.”

What attracted the “investor” Han Xinghai from Shenyang was not the financial product itself, but the Lifeband from Blue Sky Grey. In October 2015, he, who had previously been a doctor, attended the product launch conference. It is reported that the Lifeband is equipped with a chip, one of its functions is to locate the position through GPS and Beidou dual positioning, with a location accuracy of no more than 15 meters. If there is an elderly person in need of help, pressing the red button on the band will ensure that “an ambulance can reach you within 10 minutes.”

Blue Sky Ge Rui claims that these products are independently developed by the company or in collaboration with other institutions. However, during the trial of Ren Jiangtao, Qian Zhiming's assistant Li testified that these products were actually purchased from manufacturers in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and the Jiangsu-Zhejiang region. The true purpose of Blue Sky Ge Rui establishing the Life Cycle Project Service Center is to expand the company's influence and subsequently sell financial products. “Blue Sky Ge Rui is just a carefully designed trap,” said Zheng Zhengge.

According to the project audit, from August 2014 to July 2017, Blue Sky Ge Rui raised over 40.2 billion in funds, which were controlled and managed by Qian Zhiming. From April 2014 to August 2017, Blue Sky Ge Rui refunded over 34.1 billion to 128,409 people, with 95.68 million used for purchasing jewelry, 91.89 million for real estate purchases, over 210 million for daily operating expenses, and additionally about 140 million was used to purchase Bitcoin.

6.1 million Bitcoins How They Become a Money Laundering Tool

According to British judicial documents obtained by China News Weekly regarding the case, these 61,000 Bitcoins are believed to mainly come from Qian Zhiming's large-scale fraudulent activities carried out in China. In June 2014, Qian Zhiming opened a digital currency trading account under the name Ren Jiangtao and purchased Bitcoins with embezzled funds exceeding 1.1 billion yuan. This type of operation was relatively easy to implement in China at that time.

Lawyer Liu Yang from Beijing Deheng Law Firm introduced that Qian Zhimin's alleged behavior of laundering money through Bitcoin is not complicated. Qian Zhimin fled to the UK in September 2017. On September 4 of the same year, the central bank and seven other ministries issued the “Announcement on Preventing Risks of Token Issuance and Financing”, and from that time on, virtual digital currency exchanges closed the exchange channels between the Renminbi and virtual digital currencies. In other words, before the incident, Qian Zhimin could directly purchase Bitcoin on trading platforms with the stolen goods, and coupled with the absence of anti-money laundering measures like real-name registration at that time, it was very easy for her to escape abroad with Bitcoin.

This case highlights the loopholes in the regulatory environment for Bitcoin in China before 2017. At that time, Crypto Assets exchanges could directly purchase Bitcoin with Renminbi, and KYC (Know Your Customer) requirements were not strict, with large transactions lacking effective monitoring. Qian Zhimin took advantage of this regulatory vacuum to convert billions of yuan in illicit funds into Bitcoin, and then transfer the assets to the UK through the anonymity and cross-border characteristics of the blockchain.

As for Qian Zhiming, before the public security authorities initiated an investigation, in February 2017, she asked her then-boyfriend Zhao Moufeng to help her illegally cross the border. Zhao Moufeng operated an antique company in Shanghai. With Zhao's assistance, Qian Zhiming escaped across the border. The details of her escape are unknown. Qian Zhiming fled China in July 2017 and arrived in the UK in September 2017 holding a British passport under the name “Zhang Yadi” (Yadi). She hired a Chinese woman named Wen Jian in the UK to assist with money laundering. Wen Jian was arrested in May 2021, tried in 2023, and found guilty of money laundering. Qian Zhiming once fled, and in late April 2024, British media reported that Qian Zhiming was captured in the UK and was being held pending trial.

Liu Yang believes that if calculated based on the highest market value of Bitcoin since 2024, 61,000 Bitcoins are worth over 32 billion RMB. He stated: “Currently, we should maximize the evidence of capital flow to prove the connection between the 61,000 Bitcoins seized by the UK and the Blue Sky Ge Rui case,” which may help recover these Bitcoins.

Legal Dilemmas and Progress in Cross-Border Asset Recovery

A month ago, the largest Bitcoin Money Laundering case in the UK was heard in London. The main figure in the case is Qian Zhiming, the principal offender of the illegal deposit-taking case of Tianjin Lantian Ge Rui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. On that day, Qian Zhiming pleaded guilty in court, admitting to holding and transferring the proceeds of crime in Crypto Assets. Qian Zhiming's plea significantly shortened the originally scheduled hearing period of 12 to 14 weeks, and the case has now entered the sentencing and judgment phase.

For Chinese investors in the Blue Sky Ge Rui case, Qian Zhimin's guilty plea has shifted their focus to a new concern – what will happen to the 61,000 Bitcoins involved in the case? A victim told China News Weekly: “We are paying attention to the news of the trial in the UK, and the Chinese police have been actively pursuing the recovery of funds, which is all a hope.” However, cross-border asset recovery faces complex legal procedures.

The UK law has strict regulations regarding the disposal of proceeds from crime, typically prioritizing compensation for local victims before considering foreign victims. Although China and the UK have a criminal judicial assistance agreement, asset recovery often takes a long time. The uniqueness of Bitcoin further complicates the matter: it is both a digital asset and spans multiple jurisdictions, lacking precedents for how to assess, safeguard, and distribute it.

According to the report from the Tianjin police, the public security authorities are still continuing cross-border cooperation with British law enforcement agencies to pursue fugitives and recover stolen assets, making every effort to recover the losses of the participants in the fundraising. This statement brings hope to the victims, but the actual time and proportion of recovery remain full of uncertainty. Based on experiences from similar cases, cross-border asset recovery may take several years, and the final recovery rate is often less than 50%.

This case has far-reaching implications for China's cryptocurrency regulation and the use of Bitcoin in crime. It exposed early regulatory loopholes and also prompted subsequent stricter anti-money laundering measures. After 2017, China completely banned the operation of cryptocurrency exchanges, significantly reducing the likelihood of similar cases occurring.