A British-Chinese woman launderer was arrested and sent to prison for six years. This was confirmed on Friday, May 24, by a London court, saying that the woman conducted a $6 billion crypto fraud.
British-Chinese Woman Bitcoin Launderer Faces 6-Year-Imprisonment
According to Reuters, Wen Jiang was accused of laundering bitcoin worth $6.4 billion. Prosecutors stated that the British-Chinese woman stole the money from over 130,000 Chinese investors.
Between 2014 and 2017, she fooled her victims using fraudulent wealth schemes. Authorities added that the launderer converted the Bitcoin she stole into cash and property to hide the proceeds.
Wen Jiang denied three counts of money laundering, saying she wasn't aware of any criminality linked to Bitcoin. However, jurors found her guilty last March after a trial at Southwark Crown Court.
Although the jury wasn't able to reach a verdict on two other counts, Wen was still sent to prison for six years and eight months for the count of money laundering, which she was found guilty of.
Launderer Is Not the Mastermind
CoinDesk reported that the British-Chinese woman launderer wasn't the mastermind of the fraudulent wealth scheme. Officials stated that she was laundering cryptocurrencies on behalf of Yadi Zhang.
They identified the mastermind's real name as Zhimin Qian. Wen admitted that she was handling a Bitcoin wallet on behalf of her boss. However, she claimed to be unaware of where the content was coming from.
"I am in no doubt that . . . you knew, rather than merely suspected, that you were dealing in the proceeds of crime," said Judge Sally-Ann Hales, KC.
The judge added that the offense was sophisticated and involved significant planning to be pulled off.
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