Mastermind in $5 billion rip-off needed to be a goddess, deliberate to construct kingdom

Published on: Sept 30, 2025 08:11 am IST

Zhimin Qian, the mastermind behind a crypto rip-off of over $5 billion, needed to be topped a ‘goddess’.

The mastermind in what’s being known as the ‘world’s largest theft’ is a girl who needed to be a ‘goddess’ and had plans to construct her personal kingdom. Zhimin Qian, often known as Yadi Zhang, has pleaded responsible to cash laundering offences after British authorities seized units from her holding 61,000 bitcoins, value greater than £5.5 billion at present costs.

Zhimin Qian, 47, has pleaded responsible to cash laundering offences

The Metropolitan police imagine it’s the largest single cryptocurrency seizure on this planet, in keeping with a report in The Guardian.

Zhimin Qian’s crypto rip-off

Zhimin Qian, 47, scammed hundreds of individuals in China between 2014 and 2017. She ran a Chinese firm known as Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology which promised traders returns of as much as 300 per cent.

Instead of promoting legit funding merchandise, the agency was merely funneling traders’ cash into cryptocurrency.

Qian managed to rip-off 128,000 traders in China earlier than fleeing to the UK in September 2017.

The cash she scammed was saved in bitcoin. UK authorities made a breakthrough within the case in 2018, after they raided her dwelling and located digital wallets with 61,000 bitcoins – value £1.4 billion on the time it was discovered. It is presently value over £5.5 billion at present charges ($6.7 billion roughly).

Arrest and sentencing

Qian was arrested in April 2024 after spending years on the run.

On Monday, at Southwark Crown Court, she admitted to buying and holding cryptocurrency linked to felony property between October 2017 and April 2024.

The 47-year-old appeared in court docket carrying glasses, a brown cardigan and an animal print prime. She admitted to possessing and transferring felony property on the primary day of her trial at Southwark Crown Court. She was remanded in custody, with sentencing to observe at a later date.

Plans to grow to be a goddess

UK police had earlier seized Qian’s digital diary the place she recorded her need to be anointed “Reincarnated Goddess” by the Dalai Lama.

According to a Financial Times report, her diary additionally contained her plans to rule over a kingdom known as “Liberland”. This unrecognised and uninhabited micronation, over which she needed to reign, was situated on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia.

The crypto scammer additionally had plans for a £5million crown and sceptre, a Buddhist temple in her kingdom, and amenities for an airport and port.