As prosecutors in China move to confiscate assets that include more than 61,800 Bitcoin seized in the UK, a court has opened a six-month period for victims to join the case.
According to CoinDesk, citing Chinese media outlet The Paper, the Tianjin Second Intermediate People’s Court accepted the prosecutors’ application on October 13, concerning assets allegedly derived from crime. At the center of the case is an alleged fraud scheme that collected money from more than 102,000 investors.
The Bitcoin is currently in the hands of British authorities. The case in China concerns the legal fate of these assets and victims’ claims for repayment.
Billions of dollars raised with promises of guaranteed returns
Prosecutors say Tianjin Lantian Gree Electronic Technology, allegedly controlled by Qian Zhimin, sold unlicensed investment products across China from 2014 to 2017. The amount raised with promises of guaranteed principal and high returns reportedly exceeded 40.378 billion yuan, or approximately $5.7 billion, while investor losses were approximately 20 billion yuan.
According to the allegations, instead of financing legitimate businesses, the money was used to pay earlier investors, sustain fake investment projects, buy Bitcoin, and purchase real estate, cars, and jewelry.
Qian left China in 2017 and later settled in the UK. British authorities seized more than 61,800 BTC, as well as Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin SV, XRP, Dogecoin, cash, jewelry, and investment assets.
How will victims’ claims to the seized Bitcoin be determined?
Victims and other interested parties can join the case during the six-month period opened by the court in China. Victims who do not join the case can also seek restitution from the recovered assets. The court process will determine who receives the assets and in what amounts.
The UK High Court also ruled that Chinese law, rather than English law, would apply to victims’ claims to the more than 61,000 BTC seized in the UK. The next assessment will examine whether victims have ownership rights to these assets under Chinese law.
As further hearings are expected, lawyers for some victims are seeking to challenge the ruling. The fate of the large Bitcoin holding is therefore being shaped by both the confiscation application in China and the dispute over ownership rights in the UK.
Not investment advice.