UK Top 10 News

A seven-year, painstaking investigation by the Metropolitan Police has culminated in the conviction of Zhimin Qian, a Chinese money launderer involved in one of the UK’s largest-ever crypto-asset fraud cases.
The Met’s Head of Economic and Cybercrime Command, Will Lyne, confirmed that the case is among the most significant in UK history.
Qian was convicted of attempting to clean illicit crypto-assets, primarily by purchasing property with the assistance of an accomplice, Jian Wen.
Detective Sergeant Isabella Grotto, who led the investigation, noted that when her team located Qian, she had been 'evading justice for five years,' requiring a 'complex investigation' involving evidence from multiple jurisdictions and the review of thousands of documents.
The police probe successfully secured compelling evidence of the criminal origins of the vast sums of cryptocurrency Qian attempted to launder in the UK.
Jian Wen, a 44-year-old former Chinese takeaway worker, helped Qian clean the proceeds, moving from her home above a restaurant to a multi-million-pound rented house in north London.
Wen was previously jailed for six years and eight months last year for her role in the activities alongside Qian, which included suspiciously expensive purchases.
This conviction sends a powerful international message that the UK is determined to pursue and prosecute those who use the nation as a conduit for laundering large-scale criminal crypto-assets.