A woman who converted Bitcoin (BTC) into luxury houses and jewelry has reportedly been found guilty of engaging in a money laundering arrangement.
BBC reports that Jian Wen, a Chinese national and a resident of Hendon, North London, was convicted at the Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
In 2017, the 42-year-old woman posed as an employee of a jewelry business and tried to buy expensive houses in London but had trouble passing money laundering checks, so she decided to buy jewelry in Zurich and luxury properties in Dubai in 2019.
The Metropolitan Police Service (Met), which conducted a large-scale investigation of the case, searched several addresses, reviewed 48 electronic devices and examined thousands of digital files, including those that were translated from Mandarin.
Police later found and seized a Bitcoin trove initially worth around $2.52 billion, but is now valued at roughly $4.28 billion.
The Met says the seizure is by far the largest of its kind in the UK and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) already obtained a freezing order from the High Court that could lead to the forfeiture of the BTC stack.
Says Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Prins,
“This verdict and lengthy five-year investigation demonstrates that we’ll leave no stone unturned in our pursuit to catch criminals who look to enjoy the proceeds of illicit funds – no matter how complex the case.”
Jian’s sentencing is set for May 10th.
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