"Bitcoin Queen" Qian Zhimin's assistant pays £5.6 million confiscation order to UK government

On October 21, citing the Daily Mail, the UK Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), in response to a freedom of information request, disclosed that Hok Seng Ling, an assistant to "Bitcoin Queen" Qian Zhimin, has paid in full the £5,603,305 confiscation order imposed by the court, plus an additional £1,990 in interest. Most of this sum was cryptocurrency seized at the time of his arrest. Ling, a Malaysian national, had previously pleaded guilty to money laundering and was sentenced to 4 years and 11 months in prison. Separately, a UK High Court judge ruled last week that victim claims involving 61,000 bitcoins (currently worth about £3.8 billion) should be governed by Chinese law, thereby increasing the likelihood that the UK government will retain the appreciation in the value of the bitcoins. Qian Zhimin defrauded more than 128,000 Chinese investors between 2014 and 2017.