The boss of "giving you three lifetimes of wealth" ran away with 61,000 bitcoins

China News Weekly

2024-05-19 09:31Published on the official account of China News Weekly in Beijing

As an "investor" in the wealth management products of Tianjin Blue Sky Gree Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Blue Sky Gree"), Zhang Li (pseudonym) from Hohhot City, Inner Mongolia, has only met Qian Zhimin, the behind-the-scenes boss of Blue Sky Gree. At that time, Zhang Li, like most of the "investors" in Blue Sky Gree, didn't know Qian Zhimin's real name, only knew that her name was Huahua, which was very mysterious.

It was the autumn of 2016, and Zhang Li participated in a promotion meeting organized by Blue Sky Gree with thousands of people in Beijing, and Qian Zhimin appeared. It was a crazy scene: Qian Zhimin was covered in a pink and white veil, sitting in a wheelchair, in the aisle leading to the conference stage, being held up by a wheelchair, and everyone held Qian Zhimin high while chanting slogans, one of which was "Three Generations of Wealth" - it came from the propaganda slogan of Blue Sky Gree: "You give Gree three years, Gree gives you three riches." ”

After 8 years, Qian Zhimin has attracted more people's attention. In March 2024, the British media reported a bitcoin money laundering case involving Qian Zhimin. In this case, the British police locked up 61,000 bitcoins, which are worth more than 32 billion yuan if calculated at the highest market value of bitcoin since 2024. This is the largest cryptocurrency money laundering case ever investigated in the UK. And the owner of these bitcoins is none other than Qian Zhimin.

Photo/Visual China

A British judicial document obtained by China Newsweek describes that the 61,000 bitcoins were mainly purchased with the proceeds of criminal acts committed by Qian Zhimin in China, Qian Zhimin, the owner and controller of Blue Sky Gree, who fled China in July 2017 and arrived in the UK in September 2017 with a passport in the name of Yadi Zhang after the Chinese police investigated Blue Sky Gree. She hired a Chinese woman named Wen Jian in the UK to help with money laundering. Wen Jian was arrested in May 2021 and tried in 2023 before being convicted of money laundering. Qian Zhimin fled for a time, and in late April 2024, British media reported that Qian Zhimin was arrested in the UK and remanded in custody pending trial.

Around Blue Sky Gree and Qian Zhimin, a series of questions were asked by the public: Who is Qian Zhimin? How did she manage to escape? What will happen to the 61,000 BTC?

The mysterious "Flowers"

In an interview with a reporter from China News Weekly, more than one "investor" of Blue Sky Gree recalled the scene when "Huahua" appeared in front of them and deliberately covered her face.

Zheng Zhengge (not his real name), a teacher in Wuxi County, Chongqing, was introduced to Blue Sky Gree in 2016 by his high school classmates. At that time, Zheng Zhengge had the attitude of giving it a try, and he and his wife each invested in a product, 60,000 yuan each.

According to the public judgment documents, on March 31, 2014, Qian Zhimin registered and established Blue Sky Gree in Tianjin, which has seven regions of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Northeast China, East China, South China, Central China, Northwest and Southwest to manage the sales business of wealth management products across the country. From April 2014 to August 2017, Blue Sky Gree launched ten wealth management products, with 1~3 times the return on investment as bait, illegally absorbing public deposits.

Zheng Zhengge and his wife invested in the seventh wealth management product of Blue Sky Gree, the carnival franchise plan. According to the agreement, the "service bonus" of the plan is that the dividend will be paid every working day in the 30 months of "investment", and the dividend amount will gradually increase in 6 months, specifically: 100 yuan per copy in the first ~ 6th month; 200 yuan per copy in the 7th ~ 12th month; 300 yuan per copy in the 13th ~ 18th month; 400 yuan per copy in the 19th ~ 24th month; 500 yuan per copy in the 25th ~ 30th month.

Zheng Zhengge recalled: "We observed for a period of time, and it did return the money according to the time, so that the capital may be returned in more than 20 months, and the profit will be two or three times higher when it is returned." So later, I added money to invest in it, until July 2017, when Blue Sky Gray exploded, with a total investment of more than 1 million yuan. ”

The person on the right wearing a mask is Qian Zhimin. Photo / provided by the interviewee

In the two years of investing in Blue Sky Gree, Zheng Zhengge's wife has seen "Huahua". At the meeting, "Huahua" will put on a mask, sit in a wheelchair, sit in front of the venue, and "investors" are not allowed to bring mobile phones, and they are not allowed to take photos and videos. Until the blue sky Gree exploded, Zheng Zhengge didn't know what the real name of "Huahua" was. Retrospectively, it was Zhang Li who let Zheng Zhengge, these "investors", know the name "Qian Zhimin".

Zhang Li came into contact with Blue Sky Gree in 2016, when she was still working in the education system in Inner Mongolia. A friend of hers, who retired from the local procuratorate, is the "head of the net" of Blue Sky Gree in Hohhot. Under the influence of this friend, she bought a blue sky Gree's financial products, carnival investment plan, 60,000 yuan each, and later, under the influence of Zhang Li, her 4 relatives and friends also bought a copy, with a total investment of 300,000 yuan, until July 2017, Blue Sky Gree exploded, and each person returned more than 20,000 yuan.

Among the "investors" of Blue Sky Gree, Zhang Li and her relatives and friends have little to lose. Zheng Zhengge recalled that many "investors" will invest the money they return again, and the snowball is getting bigger and bigger, especially in April and July 2017 before the Blue Sky Gree explosion, at this time the police have investigated Blue Sky Gree, and the "investors" did not know, Blue Sky Gree held one promotion meeting after another in various places, and many people invested all the money in the rebate.

Zhang Li didn't follow up anymore. Before investing in Blue Sky Gree, Zhang Li went to Beijing at least twice to attend Blue Sky Gree's conference, the first time in May and June 2016, and the second time in the autumn of 2016. It was at the second promotion conference that Zhang Li witnessed the "Huahua" in a wheelchair and wearing a veil being held high again and again by everyone. She thinks that Blue Sky Gree is like a pyramid scheme, "When a few new products come out later, I will tell everyone, none of us should invest anymore."

The Blue Sky Gree thunderstorm occurred on July 27, 2017. Zhang Li recalled that Blue Sky Gree no longer returned money that day. She asked the friend who introduced her investment, and was told that the relevant state departments were going to conduct an internal inspection of Blue Sky Gree, and when the inspection was over, they would continue to rebate. Zhang Li waited for a week, but still did not resume the rebate. She discussed the matter in an "investor" WeChat group, only to be kicked out of the group. On December 5, 2017, she called the police in Inner Mongolia, and on December 7, she went to the Chunhua Road Police Station of the Hedong Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau where Blue Sky Gree belongs.

Zhang Li was one of the first "investors" to report to the police after the Blue Sky Gree explosion. At the Chunhua Road police station, the police told Zhang Li the real name of "Huahua", and Zhang Li sent the news to another "investor" WeChat group. Only then did everyone know that "Huahua" was called Qian Zhimin.

Qian Zhimin is his person

Regarding Qian Zhimin, almost no "investors" know the details, and all that is passed on by word of mouth is only the public propaganda information and unconfirmed legends of Blue Sky Gree.

Blue Sky Gree advertised that "Huahua" graduated from Tsinghua University, has a double doctorate, studied in the United States, and understands finance. Han Xinghai (pseudonym), an "investor" from Shenyang, heard that "Huahua" brought back a lot of technology from the United States. He once asked "Huahua" why she didn't let her take pictures at the promotion meeting, "She said it was because she brought back American technology, and if it was revealed, the United States would sanction her."

In late April 2024, after British media reported that Qian Zhimin was arrested in the UK, she provided the date of birth to the court as Yadi Zhang as November 10, 1990. According to China News Weekly, it was learned from an unnamed source familiar with the matter that this date may not be true. The person said that Qian Zhimin was born in Rugao, Jiangsu Province in September 1978, has a college degree, was married, and later divorced.

Qian Zhimin's early experience is still unknown to the outside world. "China News Weekly" learned that in 2013, she was involved in a pyramid scheme case in Hefei, Anhui Province, when Qian Zhimin assumed the pseudonym "Li Xia", the case involved a large number of people and huge funds, after the case someone was arrested and sentenced, and as a trader Qian Zhimin has been on the run. This may explain why Qian Zhimin has always deliberately maintained a mysterious image during the later trading of Blue Sky Gree, and is unwilling to show it openly.

The scene of a promotion meeting of Blue Sky Gree. Photo / provided by the interviewee

A December 2014 verdict by the Yaohai District People's Court in Hefei against Zhao for organizing and leading pyramid schemes describes the ins and outs of the pyramid scheme. After trial, the court found that in late March 2013, Zhao joined the "UBS International Group Limited Hong Kong" (hereinafter referred to as "UBS International Hong Kong") pyramid marketing organization organized by Qian Zhimin and others, which attracted others to join in the name of "investing in camellia oil projects" through online publicity, on-site teaching, on-site visits and other means. The organization implements a membership system, requiring each person to pay 2,800 yuan to qualify for joining, and there is no limit to more votes, and the number of downline personnel is used as the basis for remuneration or rebates.

In Zhao's case, Li Xia, the actual person in charge of UBS International in Hong Kong, was Qian Zhimin. Zhao confessed that UBS International Hong Kong was incorporated in Hong Kong in September 2012, the chairman is Li Xia, and the office in Hefei is located in Hengfeng Building, Yaohai District, and there are two brands in front of the office: UBS International and Hefei Fuyongquan Cereals, Oils and Foods Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Fuyongquan Cereals and Oils Company"). Li Xia is not often in the company, and her daily work is taken care of by others.

The company uses the packaging of UBS International, an overseas company, to publicize the Fuyongquan Grain and Oil Company and the 60,000 acres of camellia base in Tianzhu Mountain as a gimmick, and attracts personnel for on-the-spot visits by reimbursing travel expenses and accommodation expenses. If you become a member, you can buy the company's camellia oil at a price of five or six percent off for life and enjoy rebates.

Fuyongquan Grain and Oil Company is a partner specially recruited by Qian Zhimin to attract "members". Wang Moujia, general manager of Fuyongquan Grain and Oil Company, testified that in early March 2013, a woman claiming to be Li Xia of UBS International of Hong Kong came to their company and designated to purchase a gift box of camellia oil products worth 700,000 yuan from the company. After negotiation, the two parties signed a cooperation agreement. In accordance with the requirements of the agreement, the company provided an office for UBS International in Hong Kong. At the end of March, a group of people from UBS International in Hong Kong came to visit, and the company found that the groups of personnel they brought were very miscellaneous and not formal, so they immediately stopped the visit and no longer provided factory offices. In May 2013, Fuyongquan Grain and Oil Company terminated the production cooperation agreement with UBS International in Hong Kong.

Zhao confessed that since mid-June 2013, the company's website and membership system have not been normal, and the withdrawal is also abnormal, and the company explained that the website was upgraded and the system was hacked, and the payment third-party account was frozen. On the morning of July 1, 2013, Li Xia sent a message to the company's employees to tell them not to worry, she was collecting money. At 13 o'clock that day, the company's website was inaccessible.

In November 2013, Zhao was arrested and later sentenced to two years in prison for organizing and leading pyramid schemes. Qian Zhimin was "dealt with in a separate case".

Less than a year after the investigation and punishment of the pyramid scheme case in Hefei, on March 31, 2014, Qian Zhimin, who was on the run, registered and established Blue Sky Gree in Tianjin.

"Elaborate traps"

The routine of the field trip was completely transplanted to the Blue Sky Gray project - there are some "investors" who are not here for wealth management products, but for other businesses of Blue Sky Gray.

At the end of February and the beginning of March 2017, Blue Sky Gree "investors" from Shenyang were organized to Tianjin to inspect the Bitcoin mining farm. At that time, Blue Sky Gree publicly announced that it had Bitcoin mining farms in Tianjin and other places to recruit investment in mining.

One of the "investors", Wang Yayi (pseudonym), recalled that hundreds of people went from Shenyang to investigate, and they paid for their own fares, but did not spend money on accommodation and meals. After many years, she no longer remembers the location of the bitcoin mining farm in Tianjin, only remembers that "there are warehouses and warehouses in that place, and there are slogans that say Tianjin Blue Sky Gree Bitcoin Warehouse, built on an open land". When they visited, the mining machine was not in use, "the leader of the team said that it was because we came, and we were afraid of radiation, so the power went out." It wasn't until the blue sky was thundered that Wang Yaya heard that the mining machines they visited back then were just some "broken things", "creating an illusion, let us invest".

An investment agreement for a wealth management product signed by the "investor" and Blue Sky Gree. Photo / provided by the interviewee

Wang Yayi recalled that they stayed in a hotel on the outskirts of Tianjin, which was full of "investors" from all over the country like her.

Before the inspection, Wang Yaya had invested in Blue Sky Gree, but it was only a "small investment", and that on-site inspection made her decide to invest in large quantities. Until the thunderstorm, she invested more than 800,000 yuan before and after.

According to "China News Weekly", the bitcoin mining farms set up in many places are not all props or decorations. Ren Jiangtao, the legal person of Blue Sky Gree, confessed after being arrested that the business set by Qian Zhimin for the company included the mining business of Bitcoin and Duo Coin, and he was responsible for maintaining the mining farm and mining machine, and transferred the mined virtual currency to Qian Zhimin from time to time.

Pan, who is the person in charge of the custodian of the Blue Sky Gree Mine, once testified that they were responsible for installing the mining machine, and the mining machine and electricity were provided by Qian Zhimin, and the network was also connected by Qian Zhimin, and the mined bitcoins were transferred to Qian Zhimin's online wallet. In 2014, Blue Sky Gree took people to visit the mine several times, and by 2017, the mining machines were all eliminated and the scrap products were sold at a price of 30 yuan each.

What attracted Shenyang "investor" Han Xinghai was not bitcoin mining, but a life bracelet from Blue Sky Gray. In October 2015, as a doctor, he attended the launch of the product. According to reports, the life bracelet is equipped with a chip, one of the functions is through GPS and Beidou dual positioning, the positioning direction is not more than 15 meters, "no longer let an elderly person get lost". If the elderly need help, press the red button of the bracelet, "the ambulance will be there for you within 10 minutes".

According to Han Xinghai's recollection, there are anti-haze air freshening devices and anti-fatigue seat belts, among which there is an air freshening device "big blue", "'Huahua' said that in densely populated places, the company can install big blue for free, which can filter 300 square meters of air every 15 minutes, including viruses, smoke and other toxic substances, through the company's supercomputer, can be analyzed." The anti-fatigue seat belt is equipped with a chip, "When driving, once fatigued, it will automatically alert the alarm through changes in heart rate and respiratory pulse." Han Xinghai said.

The office of Blue Sky Gree, located in the Fujian Building in Hedong District, Tianjin, has been seized. Photographer/Reporter Liu Xiangnan

At the promotion meeting, Blue Sky Gree claimed that these products were independently developed by the company or developed in cooperation with other institutions. During the trial of Ren Jiangtao, Qian Zhimin's assistant Li testified that when Blue Sky Gree launched a new wealth management product, a product launch conference would be held, and Qian Zhimin and Ren Jiangtao would generally attend and speak. There are seven kinds of products corresponding to wealth management products, namely Life Ring, Xiaolan Anti-Haze Purifier, Dabai Electronic Sterilizer, Duoduo Robot, Blue and White Desktop Air Purifier, Purification Mask and Big Blue City Air Purifier. These products are purchased from manufacturers in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Blue Sky Gree has set up a life ring project service center and set up more than 200 physical stores. Song, the head of operations of the Life Ring Project Center, testified that in the process of his directorship, he gradually realized that the real purpose of establishing this service center was to expand the company's influence and sell wealth management products.

Han Xinghai was attracted by participating in many product promotion meetings. His investment began in October 2015 and invested more than 12 million yuan. "Blue Sky Gree is an elaborate trap." Zheng Zhengge said.

Many people were sentenced, and "Huahua" fled

"China News Weekly" learned that on April 21, 2017, the public security organs filed a case for investigation because it was found that Blue Sky Gree was suspected of illegally absorbing public deposits. In June 2019, the Hedong Branch of the Tianjin Municipal Public Security Bureau issued a notice that the public security organs arrested a total of 50 criminal suspects such as Ren Jiangtao, a legal person of Blue Sky Gray, and 28 of them have been transferred for review and prosecution.

In February 2021, the Hedong District People's Court of Tianjin Municipality publicly tried the case of Ren Jiangtao, a legal person of Blue Sky Gray, and Ren was tried together with his assistant Huang Yafang, who is also Ren's girlfriend. After trial, the court found that from June 2014 to August 2017, he served as a legal person of Blue Sky Gree and participated in the illegal absorption of more than 40.2 billion yuan in public deposits; Huang was involved in illegally absorbing more than 17.6 billion yuan in deposits from the public. In September 2021, the court sentenced Ren to 10 years in prison and a fine of 500,000 yuan, and Huang to 5 years in prison and a fine of 250,000 yuan.

Ren Jiangtao confessed that he met Qian Zhimin by playing an online game, because he completely obeyed Qian Zhimin's command in the game, Qian Zhimin asked him to serve as a blue sky gray legal person, but in fact it was only a name, and the specific work was still arranged by Qian Zhimin. At that time, it was orally agreed to work for three years, Qian Zhimin gave him 1 million yuan, and agreed to a monthly salary of 30,000 yuan, but he actually only received 12,000 ~ 15,000 yuan per month, and he stopped after receiving it for more than a year, and he did not get the 1 million yuan agreed before.

In addition, "China News Weekly" learned that the public security organs in the investigation of the Blue Sky Gree case, found that the general manager of Blue Sky Gree, Wu Xiaolong, had fled, so they pursued him online, Wu Xiaolong once wanted to smuggle out of the country, but failed, in September 2017, he was arrested in southern Sichuan. In November 2021, the Hedong District People's Court of Tianjin Municipality convicted Wu Xiaolong of illegally absorbing public deposits in the first instance and sentenced him to eight years and six months in prison and a fine of 500,000 yuan. After trial, the court found that from August 2014 to July 2017, Wu Xiaolong, as the head of the sales team of Blue Sky Gree's wealth management products, illegally absorbed more than 8.7 billion yuan of public deposits.

This is not the first time Wu Xiaolong has been arrested. In August 2016, Wu Xiaolong was arrested on suspicion of illegal fund-raising when he held a product promotion meeting in Linghai City, Liaoning Province, and under the instruction of Qian Zhimin, Fan of Blue Sky Gree found Huo Jian, then deputy secretary and deputy manager of Linghai Water Company, to help, Huo Jian asked Zhang Lie, then deputy captain of the Economic Investigation Brigade of Linghai City Public Security Bureau, and Wu Xiaolong was released on bail pending trial. In the process, Huo Jian received 6.7 million yuan from Blue Sky Gray, Zhang Lie received 8.3 million yuan, and Huo Jian and Zhang Lie were both sentenced in 2023.

As for Qian Zhimin, before the public security organs opened a case for investigation, in February 2017, she offered to her then-boyfriend Zhao Moufeng to help her sneak across the border. Mr. Zhao runs an antiques company in Shanghai. With Zhao's help, Qian Zhimin crossed the border and fled. Details of his escape are unknown. China Newsweek contacted the Tianjin police, who did not give an interview.

How 61,000 bitcoins can be "recovered"

According to the special audit, from August 2014 to July 2017, Blue Sky Gree absorbed a total of more than 40.2 billion yuan, which was controlled and controlled by Qian Zhimin. From April 2014 to August 2017, Blue Sky Gree returned more than 34.1 billion yuan to 128409 people, more than 95.68 million yuan for the purchase of jewelry, more than 91.89 million yuan for the purchase of real estate, more than 210 million yuan for daily operating expenses, and more than 120 million yuan for the life ring customer service center project, in addition, it is worth noting that more than 1.14 billion yuan was used to buy bitcoin.

The "Zhang Yadi (Qian Zhimin) and Wen Jian Money Laundering Case", which has recently attracted media attention, involves a total of 61,000 bitcoins. According to British judicial documents obtained by China Newsweek about the case, most of the 61,000 bitcoins are believed to have come from Qian Zhimin's large-scale fraud crimes in China. In June 2014, Qian Zhimin opened a digital currency trading account in the name of Ren Jiangtao and used more than 1.1 billion yuan of stolen money to buy Bitcoin.

How does Qian Zhimin use Bitcoin to launder money? According to Liu Yang, a lawyer at Beijing Deheng Law Firm, who continues to pay attention to virtual digital currency, Qian Zhimin's so-called money laundering through Bitcoin is not complicated. Qian Zhimin fled to the UK in September 2017, and on September 4 of the same year, the central bank and other seven ministries and commissions issued the "Announcement on Preventing the Risk of Token Issuance and Financing", and since then, the virtual digital currency exchange has closed the exchange channel between RMB and virtual digital currency. In other words, Qian Zhimin could use the stolen money to buy bitcoin directly on the trading platform before the case, coupled with the lack of anti-money laundering methods such as the account real-name system at that time, she easily escaped abroad with bitcoins.

In Liu Yang's view, the 61,000 bitcoins held by Qian Zhimin are worth more than 32 billion yuan if calculated at the highest market value of bitcoin since 2024.

Liu Yang believes that "the evidence of the flow of funds should be fixed to the maximum extent possible to prove that the 61,000 bitcoins seized in the UK are related to the Blue Sky Gree case", which may help recover these bitcoins.

Published in the 1140th issue of China News Weekly magazine on May 20, 2024

Magazine title: Behind the 61,000 Bitcoin case

Reporter: Liu Xiangnan

Editor: Xu Tian

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