Chinese Fraud Victims Seek Government Aid in Recovering 61,000 BTC Seized by UK Law EnforcementA group of Chinese victims of a $6 billion fraud scheme have requested assistance from their country’s foreign ministry in recovering 61,000 bitcoins, seized from a fraudster and her associate. The fraud victims have strongly opposed attempts to transfer the ownership of these bitcoins to the U.K. government.Petition Garners More Than 2,500 SignaturesA group of Chinese victims of an over $6 billion fraud scheme, orchestrated by Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology, have appealed to the country’s foreign ministry for assistance in recovering more than 61,000 bitcoins thought to have been bought with their funds. The group, which has gathered over 2,500 signatures, reportedly made a similar plea to China’s public security ministry.
As reported by Bitcoin.com News, the 61,000 bitcoins were recovered following a 2018 raid on the residence of Jian Wen, a British-Chinese woman, and her employer, Zhimin Qian. While Qian has since vanished, Wen was arrested and a U.K. court recently convicted her on charges of entering into money laundering arrangements.
According to a report by the Financial Times, the group is urging relevant Chinese authorities to engage with U.K. judicial departments and to submit “evidence” supporting their claim to the seized bitcoins. The U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has reportedly initiated civil proceedings to confiscate the bitcoins.
This process could result in half of the seized bitcoins being allocated to the police and the other half to the Home Office, provided no one comes forward to claim the cryptocurrency. However, in their letter sent to the two Chinese ministries, the victims expressed strong opposition to attempts to transfer ownership of the bitcoins to the UK government.
“There is no time to lose. We do not want, and will never accept, a situation where bitcoins are confiscated by the U.K. and not returned to us,” the fraud victims said.
Chinese authorities have launched a task force in response to a fraud scheme that is believed to have attracted more than 207,000 investors. The task force has reportedly reimbursed victims 8% and 5% of their investment capital, totalling $309 million, from the seized assets of the fraudulent entity.
However, this amount falls significantly short of the more than $6.2 billion lost by investors or the value of recovered bitcoins.
Source: https://news.bitcoin.com/chinese-fraud-victims-seek-government-aid-in-recovering-61000-btc-seized-by-uk-law-enforcement/
