A Chinese woman who amassed more than £5 billion in Bitcoin through a massive Ponzi scheme has been sentenced in the UK to over 11 years in prison.

Zhimin Qian, 47, was found guilty of defrauding more than 128,000 people in China and laundering the proceeds through cryptocurrency. Police said the investigation led to the recovery of devices containing 61,000 Bitcoin – the largest cryptocurrency seizure in UK history.

Dubbed the “cryptoqueen” by British media, Qian was arrested in April 2024 after years on the run. Prosecutors said she had been living an extravagant lifestyle across Europe, staying in luxury hotels and buying fine jewellery and watches.

Between 2014 and 2017, Qian operated a pyramid scheme that convinced tens of thousands to invest their life savings and pensions in her fake business ventures. When Chinese authorities began investigating, she fled to the UK using a false identity.

Once in London, she rented a lavish home for more than £17,000 per month and attempted – unsuccessfully – to buy multi-million-pound properties in an effort to convert her Bitcoin into legitimate assets.

Investigators also discovered notes written by Qian outlining her eccentric ambitions, including an “intention to become the monarch of Liberland,” a self-proclaimed microstate between Croatia and Serbia. Other notes expressed her hopes of “meeting a duke and royalty.”

Judge Sally-Ann Hales described Qian as the “architect of the crimes from start to finish.”

“Your motive was one of pure greed,” the judge said. “You left China without a thought for the people whose investments you had stolen and enjoyed for a period of time a lavish lifestyle. You lied and schemed, all the while seeking to benefit yourself.”

Qian pleaded guilty to money laundering offences, as well as transferring and possessing criminal property. She was sentenced at Southwark Crown Court to 11 years and eight months in prison.

Her accomplice, 47-year-old Malaysian national Seng Hok Ling, was sentenced alongside her after admitting to helping transfer and launder the cryptocurrency. He received a four-year, 11-month sentence for one count of transferring criminal property.