{"id":70343,"date":"2024-01-31T08:42:48","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T12:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/?p=70343"},"modified":"2024-01-31T08:48:52","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T12:48:52","slug":"authorities-seize-1-7b-bitcoin-for-purchase-of-30m-mansion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/authorities-seize-1-7b-bitcoin-for-purchase-of-30m-mansion\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities Seize $1.7B Bitcoin for Purchase of $30M mansion"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Reportedly, authorities seized Bitcoin valued<\/a> at $1.7 billion after an alleged attempt by a former restaurant employee to purchase a mansion in London valued at approximately $30 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Authorities
Authorities Seize $1.7B Bitcoin for Purchase of $30M Mansion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

According to a January 30 Sky News report, Jian Wen, a Chinese national who obtained British citizenship in 2018, purportedly underwent a recruitment process to aid Zhimin Qian in money laundering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Qian, who traveled to the United Kingdom<\/a> under a false identity, required assistance recovering funds stolen between 2014 and 2017 from an investment fraud scheme facilitated in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before his encounter with Qian, Wen was an employee of a Chinese restaurant in southeast London. Before meeting her “boss,” whom she introduced as an employee of an international jewelry company, the takeaway employee resided in a room beneath the restaurant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to prosecutor Gillian Jones KC, Wen attempted to purchase luxury goods and real estate in London using the Bitcoins they possessed. This included a swimming pool-equipped seven-bedroom residence in Hampstead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a listing price of $30 million, the property was for sale. However, the transactions were unsuccessful because Wen needed to explain the origin of the cryptocurrency assets<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Image of the property that Jian Wen attempted to purchase. Source: Google Street View (via Sky New)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the trial, Jones informed the jury that Wen had no connection to the fraud that Qian had committed. Wen is, nevertheless, accused of transacting Bitcoin for cash, luxury goods, and real estate on Qian's behalf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reportedly, authorities searched the residence rented by Wen and Qian and seized multiple devices containing over 61,000 BTC, valued at approximately $1.7 billion at its discovery in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wen initially stated that the cryptocurrency in her possession had been extracted. She subsequently altered her tale, attributing the amount to Qian as a “love present” and presented a deed proving receipt of 3,000 BTC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this time, Wen is a defendant in the Southwark Crown Court\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/g>\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n <\/clipPath>\r\n <\/defs><\/svg><\/span><\/a>, accused of three counts of money laundering that occurred from October 2017 to January 2022. All of the allegations levied against her are denials. Meanwhile, Qian has escaped the United Kingdom and remains unaccounted for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reportedly, authorities seized Bitcoin valued at $1.7 billion after an alleged attempt by a former restaurant employee to purchase a mansion in London valued at approximately $30 million. According to a January 30 Sky News report, Jian Wen, a Chinese national who obtained British citizenship in 2018, purportedly underwent a recruitment process to aid Zhimin […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":56761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[15019,9407,1437],"class_list":["post-70343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-bitcoin-3","tag-london","tag-money-laundering"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/image-50.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/coinscreed.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}