A 42-year-old British national named Jian Wen was found guilty by a London jury of using large quantities of Bitcoin to launder money for a Chinese wanted person who is thought to have been involved in an investment scam worth around $6 billion.
Jian helped the fugitive launder money from 2017 until 2022. The court found Jian guilty of one money laundering offense but not guilty of two other charges, according to Bloomberg.
The conviction is the result of a 2018 police search at Jian and Zhimin Qian's London apartment, where the Chinese wanted man was hiding. The raid confiscated Bitcoin worth over £1.7 billion ($2.2 billion). The prosecution referred to Qian as a "supervillain" throughout the trial. Jian will be sentenced on May 10, despite the decision not to retry her.
Jian steadfastly denied any misconduct throughout the trial, arguing that she was not aware of Qian's purported crime in China and that the money she handled was not fraudulent. Interestingly, Jian had no connection to the approximately $6 billion underlying scam in China.
Qian, who entered the UK in 2017 with a false identity and left again in 2020, is still on the loose. After getting together with Qian in 2017, Jian-who had previously worked at a fast food takeout in east London-made the switch to a posh lifestyle, taking pleasure in opulent lodgings, far-flung trips, and costly shopping binges.
The trial revealed the roles played by several middlemen and experts who helped Jian and Qian acquire assets in the UK, Europe, and Dubai, as well as launder Bitcoin. Detective Chief Superintendent Jason Prins of London's Metropolitan Police Service stressed the disruption of a sophisticated cryptocurrency-using organization.
Money Laundering Via Cryptocurrencies Explained
According to the United Nations, money laundering process using cryptocurrencies follows a standard pattern of placement, layering, and integration. Notable features include low-cost scheme execution (computer scripts can orchestrate large-scale money laundering operations with thousands of transfers at minimal expense) and the fact that cryptocurrencies are anonymous from the outset, meaning that a placement stage in the money laundering procedure is not necessary.
Some cryptocurrency-related technologies being used for money laundering include Privacy coins, which are cryptocurrencies provide more anonymity in blockchain transactions than traditional cryptocurrencies. These cryptocurrencies ensure privacy by hiding user address information, including balance and transaction sources. Notably, currencies like Monero prioritize secrecy by design.
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Mixing and Blending Services are used for traditional cryptocurrencies, there are specialized protocols and services available for mixing and blending. These systems "mix" or "blend" cash from different sources at one address before spreading it to other addresses, making it untraceable. Repeating this procedure may further obscure the source of the cash.
The complexity of these technologies complicates anti-money laundering measures, making it challenging to identify the source of laundered funds.
Intensifying Anti-Money Laundering Campaign
To step up measures against money laundering using cryptocurrencies, UK law enforcement will be allowed to seize cryptocurrency assets in terrorist cases and increase anti-money laundering measures as 2023 legislation takes effect.
According to a CoinDesk report, the secondary legislation, approved early this month, allows the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 to be enforced. This legislation gives law enforcement the authority to freeze and take cryptocurrency used for illegal purposes.
On April 26, two elements will go into effect: the civil recovery procedure for cryptocurrency and orders for the seizure of crypto assets. The legislation defines these orders as "an item of property that is or that contains or gives access to information that is likely to assist in the seizure... of any crypto asset," giving police enforcement the authority to seize cryptocurrency-related items.
