London’s Metropolitan Police hold more than $3.88 billion worth of Bitcoin (BTC) from a massive 2018 seizure, according to crypto analytics firm Arkham Intelligence.
Arkham notes the United Kingdom law enforcement agency seized 61,000 Bitcoin from Jian Wen and Zhimin Qian back in 2018 and subsequently gained access to the crypto assets years later.
“The UK Metropolitan Police seized 61,000 Bitcoin (currently worth $4 billion) from Jian Wen and Zhimin Qian in 2018, gaining access to the seized BTC in July 2021.
Qian had reportedly purchased the Bitcoin with funds from an investment fraud committed in China between 2014 and 2017, and is an alleged fugitive from the Beijing authorities.”
Jian was recently put on trial in the UK for allegedly laundering money from a $6.5 billion fraud that impacted more than 100,000 Chinese residents. Prosecutors say she converted Bitcoin into cash and property.
However Jian’s lawyers allege that Zhimin masterminded the fraud and Jian, a UK citizen, didn’t know the money was linked to crime, according to a recent report from Bloomberg. Prosecutors are not alleging that Jian was involved in the initial fraud.
The police reportedly assembled a 40-person team dedicated to cracking down on crypto crime, and in October, the Financial Times reported that the team was working on 19 active criminal investigations based on 74 “intelligence referrals.”
Bitcoin is trading at $63,363 at time of writing. The top-ranked crypto asset by market cap is down more than 7% in the past 24 hours.
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