China seeks forfeiture of 61,800 BTC in Qian fraud case

Chinese prosecutors are seeking to confiscate more than 61,800 BTC tied to the $5.7 billion (40 billion yuan) fraud scheme run by Zhimin Qian, whose company sold unlicensed wealth-management products and left victims with nearly 20 billion yuan in losses. A Chinese court has opened a six-month window for interested parties to join the confiscation case, treating the bitcoin and other assets seized in the UK as illicit gains.

The move follows a UK High Court ruling that Chinese law governs victims' claims to the roughly 61,000 BTC (about $5 billion) seized by the Metropolitan Police during the investigation, strengthening the Crown's position in one of the largest known bitcoin forfeiture cases. Prosecutors say investor funds were used to repay earlier participants and buy assets, including cryptocurrency.