Chinese prosecutors are seeking to confiscate more than 61,000 Bitcoin and related assets seized by UK authorities in connection with a major international fraud scheme.
The Tianjin No.2 Intermediate People's Court accepted an application on September 28 by the Tianjin Municipal People's Procuratorate No.2 Branch to confiscate illegal proceeds including 61,896.41552945 BTC, along with other virtual currencies, cash, jewelry, and financial assets.
The assets originate from a Ponzi-style fraud operated between 2014 and 2017 by the controller of a Tianjin company. The scheme raised over 403.78 billion Chinese yuan through false investment offerings and resulted in losses exceeding 199.77 billion yuan for more than 102,000 victims.
The perpetrator fled to the United Kingdom in 2017, where authorities subsequently seized the Bitcoin holdings and related assets valued at several billion pounds.
Legal Proceedings Ongoing
Prosecutors are applying to confiscate the property as illegal proceeds and fruits of the crime. However, the ownership battle remains unresolved.
The UK High Court has determined that Chinese law governs the existence and content of proprietary rights asserted by victims. A victim cannot necessarily recover cryptocurrency by simply proving that Bitcoin was purchased with money taken from them.
No evidence on the content of Chinese law has yet been submitted in the proceedings, meaning the case is still active. The announcement period for interested parties runs six months from October 13.
