Updated: May 24, 2024 4:04 PM EDT
London’s Southwark Crown Court sentenced a woman to prison for Bitcoin money laundering linked to a multibillion-dollar investment fraud, Bloomberg reports.
Jian Wen, 42, who holds both British and Chinese citizenship, was sentenced to six years and eight months for money laundering 150 BTC, worth about $10.4 million at current prices. Bitcoin was part of a wider investment fraud operation, with authorities seizing 61,000 BTC worth approximately $4.22 billion in connection with the $5.6 billion scheme.
Wen claimed to have laundered money on behalf of a Chinese woman between 2017 and 2022, claiming she was the “mastermind” of the operation. Wen also said she did not know the true source of her funds and her court did not accuse her of participating in the broader fraud, Bloomberg added. Wen said that before she got involved, she worked as a food delivery person.
Bitcoin was trading at $69,077.30 as of 2:25 PM (18:25 UTC) on May 24, according to price data from The Block. In the last 24 hours, the token increased by 3.04% to $2,035.
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About the author
MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020, joining just before Bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for publications covering all cryptocurrency-related news, preferring NFTs, metaverse, web3 games, fundraising, crime, hacking, and cryptocurrency ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University’s Science, Health, and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. X You can follow MK at @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.