On Friday local time, a court in London, England, made a sentencing decision in a money laundering case involving Bitcoin. A British woman of Chinese descent was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for assisting her employer in money laundering.

This case has also attracted much attention from investors in both countries because of "British police seizing 61,000 bitcoins" and a 40 billion illegal absorption of public deposits case that occurred in China many years ago.

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Judge: I have no doubt you knew what you were doing

Public information shows that the defendant in this case, Jian Wen, was born in China and followed her husband Marcus Barraclough to the UK in 2007 when she was seven months pregnant. Later, because her husband "had violent tendencies", the two divorced in 2010. Jian Wen lived with her son, working while studying for a diploma in law and economics.

In 2017, Jian Wen, who was working in a Chinese restaurant in London and living in a basement, saw an advertisement for "recruiting a housekeeper". The employer behind it was Qian Zhimin, who used the alias "Yadi Zhang" and was the mastermind behind the illegal absorption of public deposits by Lantian Green. According to the police report at the time, the case involved 43 billion yuan in funds and 126,000 investors from 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions were involved.

Before the incident was exposed, Qian Zhimin used a fake passport and a laptop with a crypto wallet to flee to London, England. Due to language barriers, she urgently needed a Chinese person to handle her daily affairs and exchange Bitcoin for real estate, jewelry, etc.

According to the British police, after becoming Qian Zhimin's assistant, Jian Wen instantly entered a "luxurious life" - moving from the basement into a six-bedroom apartment with a monthly rent of 17,000 pounds, buying luxury goods and starting a "world travel", while also buying properties in many places in Europe and Dubai.

However, when Jian Wen tried to buy several London luxury homes worth tens of millions of pounds, she triggered the UK's anti-money laundering procedures. Based on the fact that she only declared an income of 5,979 pounds in 2016/2017 and she could not explain the source of the Bitcoin used to pay for the house, the British police searched her residence on October 31, 2018 and seized the computer containing the Bitcoin.

What is dramatic is that it was not until two and a half years later that the British police discovered that there were as many as 61,000 bitcoins hidden in the computer. Jian Wen was arrested in May 2021, while Qian Zhimin fled the UK before the British police tried to question her.

After several trials over the past few years, a jury at London's Southwark Crown Court found Jian Wen guilty in March of this year of "laundering 150 bitcoins for a Chinese woman" between 2017 and 2022. Jian Wen has always rejected all charges against her and plans to appeal the conviction.

During the trial on Friday, Jian Wen's defense lawyer Mark Harries said Wen was a victim before she became a criminal, and there was no doubt that she was deceived and exploited by the so-called "mastermind". She was just a "middleman who pressed the Bitcoin transaction button" and had limited awareness of the criminality of her actions.

Prosecutor Gillian Jones stressed that Jian Wen was driven by "greed" and her own financial interests, rather than being influenced by coercion, intimidation or exploitation, and that she was the decision-maker in operating her own crypto wallet.

Obviously, Judge Sally-Ann Hales did not accept the defense's argument in the end. When sentencing on Friday, she told Jian Wen: "This was a complex crime involving significant planning. I have no doubt that you knew what you were doing."

Then...what about Qian Zhimin?

After Jian Wen was arrested, clues about Qian Zhimin's whereabouts were cut off. However, according to the Financial Times, Qian Zhimin, who had disappeared for a long time, returned to London in April this year, was detained and appeared in court to face criminal charges from the British prosecutors.

It is reported that the Royal Prosecution Service accused her of possessing, obtaining and using criminal property, namely cryptocurrencies, in London and various locations in the UK from October 1, 2017 to April this year.

One thing that is of concern is that Qian Zhimin claimed in the information provided to the court that her date of birth was November 10, 1990, but based on information from all sources, she should actually have been born in 1978.

Qian Zhimin pleaded not guilty through an interpreter but did not apply for bail. The judge decided that she would remain in custody and transferred the case to Southwark Crown Court, where Jian Wen was tried.