London Court Sentences Woman to Prison for Money Laundering in £5 Billion Fraud Case

A woman has been sentenced to nearly seven years in prison by a London court after being found guilty of money laundering in connection with a 5 billion pound fraud case. Wen Jian, accused of converting bitcoin into cash and property to conceal the proceeds of the fraud, faced charges related to allegedly assisting in hiding money stolen from around 130,000 Chinese investors in fraudulent wealth schemes between 2014 and 2017.

While Wen Jian was not implicated in the underlying fraud, prosecutors asserted that she played a role in concealing the source of the illicit funds. They claimed that another woman, whom Wen believed to be independently wealthy, orchestrated the fraudulent schemes.

During the investigation, British authorities seized wallets containing more than 61,000 bitcoin, marking one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures by law enforcement globally. Prosecutors revealed that at the time of access in 2021, the bitcoin was valued at approximately 1.4 billion pounds. However, its worth has since surged to over 3 billion pounds.

Throughout her trial, Wen Jian maintained her innocence, denying any involvement in criminal activities associated with the bitcoin. Despite her pleas, jurors found her guilty of one count of money laundering in March following proceedings at Southwark Crown Court. However, they were unable to reach a verdict on two additional counts.

As a result, Wen Jian received a sentence of 80 months in prison for the single count of money laundering for which she was convicted.

By fLEXI tEAM