By Sam Tobin
A woman accused of converting bitcoin into cash and property to conceal the proceeds of a massive £5 billion ($6.4 billion) fraud has been sentenced to nearly seven years in prison. Wen Jian, 42, was found guilty of money laundering after a trial at Southwark Crown Court in London.
Prosecutors said Wen helped conceal the source of the money, which was allegedly stolen from nearly 130,000 Chinese investors between 2014 and 2017. While Wen was not accused of masterminding the fraud itself, she was charged with laundering the proceeds, including large sums in bitcoin.
The fraudulent schemes, which targeted investors in China, were led by another woman whom Wen believed was independently wealthy. During the investigation, British police seized more than 61,000 bitcoins—one of the largest cryptocurrency seizures globally. At the time of the seizure in 2021, the 61,000 bitcoin was valued at around £1.4 billion, though its current value has since soared to over £3 billion.
Wen denied three counts of money laundering, insisting she had no knowledge of the illicit nature of the bitcoin transactions. However, she was convicted of one count of money laundering, for which she was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison.
Judge Sally-Ann Hales noted that there was no evidence to suggest Wen was directly involved in the fraud, but she stated that Wen must have known the money was illicit. Prosecutor Gillian Jones argued that Wen acted as a “front person,” converting the stolen funds into bitcoin and then back into cash to launder the proceeds.
In her defense, Wen claimed that she had been unaware of the criminal activities surrounding the funds, stating she was only trying to provide a better life for her son. Her lawyer, Mark Harries, argued that Wen was a victim of an “expert criminal supervillain” who had manipulated her into helping with the laundering operation.
Despite her claims of innocence, the jury found Wen guilty of money laundering, and she now faces a lengthy prison sentence for her role in one of the largest fraud schemes involving cryptocurrency.