A Chinese fraudster who wanted to be queen of Justin Sun-led micronation Liberland and have the Dalai Lama anoint her “a goddess” has been sentenced by a UK court to more than 11 years in jail for her part in a $6 billion bitcoin (BTC) scam.
Forty-seven-year-old Qian Zhimin orchestrated the scheme in China before fleeing to the UK in 2017. She was arrested seven years later in York and pleaded guilty to various criminal charges in 2025.
The Financial Times previously revealed the contents of her online diary, where she expressed her desire to become ruler of Liberland.
Qian planned on building a Buddhist temple, an airport, and a port within the 7 km² region wedged between Croatia and Serbia. She also wanted to splash $5 million on her own crown and sceptre.
Read more: Takeaway worker guilty of laundering billions with bitcoin
To top it off, she reportedly planned to flatter a British Duke and buy her own Swedish castle.
In order to become queen, Qian would’ve had to do some serious convincing — or even more serious overthrowing — as the unrecognised nation claims to be a republic with its own democratic elections.
The nation’s founder, Vít Jedlička, currently holds the title of president, while controversial crypto billionaire Justin Sun has been elected as the region’s prime minister five times in a row.
TRON blockchain founder Sun also owns the crypto exchange HTX — originally called Huobi — which was used by Qian to store crypto that had been converted from the investor funds she misappropriated.
Fate of Qian Zhimin’s $6B bitcoin stash to be decided next year
Qian’s scheme promised investors dividends from crypto mining as well as 300% returns from other investment products. It was also endorsed by the son-in-law of Chairman Mao, and she was able to host conferences in one of China’s legislative halls.
Over 120,000 people were defrauded before she fled to the UK with £20 million worth of BTC. She spent years laundering the funds with the help of a former takeaway worker while the stash of 60,000 BTC ballooned to over $6 billion.
Lawyers have told the BBC that thousands of victims are hoping to recover their lost funds. They warned that the claims would be difficult to prove, however, as in some cases, funds were given to local promoters who then relayed the funds to Qian’s enterprise.
The civil proceeds of crime case will reportedly take place early next year to decide what to do with the bitcoin sum.
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Source: https://protos.com/the-jailed-6b-bitcoin-fraudster-who-wanted-to-be-liberlands-queen/
