When Jian Wen, 42, attempted to purchase some of the priciest real estate in London, such as a £23.5 million seven-bedroom mansion in Hampstead with a swimming pool and a nearby £12.5 million house with a movie theater and gym, she attracted the attention of the authorities.
After the inquiry, more than 61,000 bitcoins were found in digital wallets, leading to the largest cryptocurrency seizure in the UK’s history.
The cryptocurrency’s value has increased from £1.4 billion to over £3 billion since then, and 23,308 Bitcoins connected to the investigation—which are currently valued at over £1 billion—remain in circulation.
The Bitcoin is said to have originated from a £5 billion investment scam that took place in China from 2014 to 2017.
Wen was not a part of the scam, but it was said that she served as a “front person” to assist hide the source of the funds, some of which were smuggled out of China on laptops after being used to purchase cryptocurrencies.
