Police in London seized around 61,000 bitcoin as part of an investigation into Zhimin Qian, who was jailed at Southwark Crown Court in November for orchestrating a fraud between 2014 and 2017 against more than 128,000 victims in China. It was the world’s largest confirmed crypto seizure by law enforcement.
Bitcoin has soared in price since the fraud took place, quintupling since the end of 2017 to around £52,300 apiece. It means the haul, which was seized from electronic devices at a mansion in Hampstead, is worth about £3.2bn.Various groups of victims are fighting to stop the Treasury from capturing the inflated value of the bitcoin. They are seeking redress through the courts in England under section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, which allows crime victims to recover criminal assets.
Source: Legal battle intensifies over £3bn bitcoin haul seized by British police