On October 21, 2026, according to an exclusive judicial investigation report published by the UK Daily Mail, a key accomplice who assisted the ringleader of a massive transnational Ponzi scheme, Qian Zhimin, in money laundering has formally returned £5.6 million in full to the British government.
The 48-year-old Malaysian national Hok Seng Ling, who previously served as Qian Zhimin's personal butler, was sentenced to 4 years and 11 months in prison last November at the Southwark Crown Court in London for conspiring to launder money. The court subsequently issued a confiscation order against him.
Full Execution of £5.6 Million Recovery: Butler's Laundering Network Completely Collapses
According to an information disclosure response from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) in the UK, the court's confiscation order of £5,603,305 and £1,990 in interest have been fully executed. The funds primarily originated from encrypted assets seized upon his arrest.
During his assistance with her escape, Ling long concealed himself in Derbyshire, booking numerous temporary Airbnb accommodations, hiring logistical personnel, and building underground capital flow networks to help Qian Zhimin, dubbed the "Bitcoin Queen" by foreign media, evade pursuit by British police for an extended period.
With the full recovery of his concealed assets, the UK jurisdiction sees another substantive milestone in the financial liquidation of the Lantian Gearui major Ponzi scheme, which involved £5.5 billion and swept up 128,000 investors.
£3.8 Billion Asset Dispute: Applicable Law Ruling Triggers Ownership Determination Crisis
Compared to the fully recovered £5.6 million in this instance, the larger core assets tied to the case are settled within the Bitcoin network. According to a BBC follow-up report on the century-scale bitcoin case involving 61,000 BTC, the digital assets seized by London Police have seen their total market value surge to £3.8 billion amid rising prices.
Currently, Chinese victim investors are entrusting lawyers to initiate asset preservation lawsuits in British courts, striving to prevent the UK Treasury from appropriating all appreciation gains from this £3.8 billion bitcoin holding into the British national exchequer under the Proceeds of Crime Act.
The core dispute centers on whether victim claims should be governed by British law or Chinese law. If the UK equitable tracing principle applies, victims may assert ownership over all tokens; however, if compensation is limited to the original investment amount, the appreciation gains could be confiscated by the British government.
Dual-Track Judicial Sovereignty Contest: Victims Face Numerous Obstacles in Defending Rights
According to the latest civil forfeiture ruling issued by the UK High Court, Judge Sir Mark Turner officially ruled that this series of tortious acts occurred within Chinese territory, and the victims' creditor claims must be defined under Chinese substantive law.
This procedural ruling significantly raises the burden of proof for victims to recover complete bitcoin assets. The affected group must not only prove their proprietary rights over specific on-chain tokens under Chinese law but also withstand the rigorous scrutiny of British courts regarding the validity of those rights.
The London High Court will subsequently hear specialized cross-examination from Chinese law experts. Where these 61,000 bitcoins, which set global law enforcement records, ultimately flow will profoundly reshape precedential benchmarks for transnational crypto jurisdiction and the return of implicated assets.
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