A woman has been sentenced to prison by the Southwark Crown Court in London for laundering 150 Bitcoin that were connected to a $5.6 billion investment fraud. Jian Wen, a former fast-food worker, received a sentence of almost seven years after being found guilty of money laundering in relation to a £5 billion fraud scheme. The case involved Wen laundering significant amounts of Bitcoin for a Chinese woman between 2017 and 2022. Law enforcement authorities seized over 61,000 Bitcoin, valued at more than $4 billion. Wen, who holds both British and Chinese citizenship, has consistently denied the allegations and is currently appealing her conviction. She claims to be a victim who was unaware of the fraudulent origins of the funds. However, the prosecution argued that Wen was motivated by greed and played a crucial role in managing the crypto wallet involved in the laundering scheme. Despite her claims of innocence, Wen was found guilty of one count of money laundering in March. She was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison. The case highlights the growing issue of money laundering in the cryptocurrency industry. In response, the EU has recently passed a new regulation aimed at regulating crypto-asset service providers and combating money laundering and terrorist financing.
