Chinese prosecutors have asked a court in Tianjin to confiscate more than 61,800 Bitcoin linked to a $5.7 billion investment fraud, opening a jurisdictional contest with the United Kingdom, w
Chinese prosecutors have asked a court in Tianjin to confiscate more than 61,800 Bitcoin linked to a $5.7 billion investment fraud, opening a jurisdictional contest with the United Kingdom, where the coins are held.
As per a report by Chinese financial outlet Yicai, the Tianjin No. 2 Intermediate People's Court took up the case on September 28 and has given victims and other interested parties six months to participate.
The request goes beyond Bitcoin. Prosecutors also want Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin SV, XRP, Dogecoin, cash, jewelry, bank balances and investment portfolios they say were bought with money raised from more than 102,000 investors, the outlet reports.
The scheme ran through Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology between 2014 and 2017, selling unlicensed wealth products that promised guaranteed principal and unusually high returns.
According to the court, much of the money went to paying earlier investors, funding fictitious projects and buying crypto and luxury goods.
Investors who stay out of the current process can still claim compensation later.
According to Yicai, at the centre is Qian Zhimin, who fled China in 2017 and was later sentenced in London to 11 years and eight months for money laundering.
London's Metropolitan Police traced the Bitcoin after searches in 2018. Ownership, however, is unresolved.
On October 12, High Court judge Mark Turner ruled that Chinese law governs victims' claims, but left open whether individual investors are entitled to the coins.
Around 16,000 victims have joined the UK process, some lawyers are appealing, and British prosecutors are separately seeking civil recovery, reports the outlet.
Further hearings will test how Chinese law applies and what evidence supports each claim.
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