Qian Zhimin, the main culprit in the 60,000 Bitcoin money laundering case, was sentenced to 6 years in prison in the first instance

The Southwark Court in London, UK, ruled in the second instance that Qian Zhimin, a 42-year-old Chinese, was guilty of money laundering and will serve more than 6 years in prison. Previously, Qian Zhimin had attempted to buy several luxury homes in London, including a 23.5 million pound seven-bedroom mansion in Hampstead and a 12.5 million pound mansion with a private cinema and gym, which attracted the attention of the police. The investigation found that 61,000 bitcoins worth more than 3 billion pounds were found in digital wallets, setting a record for the highest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK. There are still 23,300 bitcoins in circulation, worth more than 1 billion pounds. It is said that these bitcoins came from a 5 billion pound investment fraud case carried out in China from 2014 to 2017, and the funds were transferred abroad and used to buy cryptocurrencies. Qian Zhimin was not directly involved in the fraud, but acted as a "front desk" to help disguise the source of money laundering funds.