Southwark Crown Court in London, UK, has sentenced a woman to prison for bitcoin money laundering in connection with a multi-billion dollar investment fraud.
Jian Wen was convicted of money laundering charges in connection with a 5 billion pound ($6.4 billion) fraud scheme and sentenced to nearly seven years in prison on Friday.
Woman jailed in London court for laundering $6.4 billion in Bitcoin fraud proceeds
China woman sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for laundering huge amounts of Bitcoin linked to $5.6 billion investment fraud https://t.co/mbUvTgvhb1
— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) May 24, 2024
Former fast-food restaurant employee Jian Wen was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for laundering large amounts of bitcoin linked to a $5.6 billion investment fraud in China, Bloomberg reported. In the case, Wen was convicted of laundering money linked to about 150 bitcoins on behalf of a Chinese woman between 2017 and 2022. Law enforcement officials seized more than 61,000 bitcoins worth more than $4 billion.
Sentencing him on Friday, Judge Sally Ann Hales said the crime was sophisticated and involved considerable planning, adding: “I have no doubt the defendant knew what he was dealing with.”
Despite being a British and Chinese citizen, Wen has consistently denied all charges against him and is currently appealing his conviction. Wen claims he had no knowledge of the fraudulent source of the funds and has portrayed himself as a victim who was simply following the woman's instructions. Wen's lawyers have further portrayed Wen Jian as another victim of the fraud mastermind, labelling her as a “skilled criminal supervillain” who used Wen Jian's credibility to discard her.
However, prosecutors argued that Wen was motivated by greed and financial gain, and that he played a crucial role in controlling the cryptocurrency wallets linked to the money laundering scheme. Prosecutors described Wen Jian as a “front man” used by the fraud mastermind to convert stolen funds into bitcoin, smuggle them out of China and then convert them back into cash.
Wen Jian has maintained his innocence, claiming he was simply trying to give his son a better life, and has denied three charges of money laundering, claiming he was unaware of Bitcoin's criminal origins. Despite her claims, a jury found him guilty of one charge in March and reached an indecisive verdict on the other two charges.
In March, a jury found Wen guilty of money laundering after a nearly two-month trial that featured thousands of pieces of evidence, including WhatsApp messages between Wen and the alleged mastermind.
Wen Jian sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for money laundering in high-profile fraud case
Ms Wen, 42, has undergone a dramatic change since she began working for a female fugitive, now in custody, from living in the basement of a Chinese restaurant in East London to a six-bedroom mansion in a leafy suburb and enjoying luxury shopping at Harrods. “I have no doubt you have come to enjoy the finer things in life,” Judge Hales said.
In a separate statement, Wen's lawyers denied the fraud allegations against her and maintained that she obtained a significant amount of Bitcoin through legitimate means.
Judge Sally Ann Hales emphasized that while there was no evidence that Wen Jian was involved in fraud, she was aware that she was dealing in the proceeds of crime. She sentenced Wen Jian to six years and eight months in prison for one count of money laundering.
Recently, the EU passed a new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation (AMLR) aimed at regulating Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs), enabling Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) to detect and combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
The bills, announced on Wednesday, will affect cryptocurrency exchanges and brokers operating under the Crypto Asset Market Regulation (MiCA). These laws introduce “enhanced due diligence measures” and require mandated entities, such as crypto asset managers, to report suspicious activity to the FIU.
A new regulator, the AMLA, will oversee implementation. This broad AML/CFT framework applies to all financial institutions, including CASPs, and is not specific to cryptocurrencies.
