The seizure of $7.3 billion in bitcoin from Chinese "Bitcoin Queen" Qian Zhimin by the UK's Metropolitan Police set the record for the largest cryptocurrency seizure ever recorded. However, the 130,000 Chinese victims of Qian's scams may face difficulties attempting to recover their stolen funds from the UK government, claims Nikkei Asia.
When Qian pled guilty to criminal charges of illegally acquiring and possessing the cryptocurrency in September, the UK government seized all 61,000 bitcoins from the accused con artist. However, due to a variety of messy complications, the hundreds of thousands of victims of Qian's schemes will face an uphill battle in getting their full stolen funds returned to them in China, not least because the UK government may reportedly desire to keep hold of the funds for itself.
