The main suspect of the Blue Sky Ge Rui case denies money laundering charges in the UK

Recently, Qian Moumou, the main suspect in the Blue Sky Ge Rui's illegal public deposit collection case, pleaded not guilty to the charges of Bitcoin Money Laundering at the Southwark Crown Court in London. This case has attracted widespread attention, so let's take a look back at the ins and outs of this case.

The Mysterious Background of Qian Moumou

The story of Qian Moumou began in March 2014. At that time, she and others registered Tianjin Ge Rui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. in Tianjin and started promoting so-called "principal-protected high-yield" short-term investment financial products to the elderly. The investment period for these products generally ranges from 6 to 30 months, promising an annualized return rate of at least 100% and up to 300%.

In just a few years, Lantian GeRui established dozens of branches nationwide through a pyramid scheme-like dissemination, with over 100,000 victims. Qian某某 quickly accumulated hundreds of billions in enormous funds through this illegal fundraising method.

There are many questions regarding the true identity of Qian Moumou. There are rumors that she graduated from a well-known university and holds a PhD, but this claim lacks reliable evidence. Additionally, there are reports that Qian Moumou studied abroad in the United States and is proficient in finance. Furthermore, there are rumors that she had a car accident in the country, which resulted in mobility issues, requiring her to rely on a wheelchair.

The Operating Model of Blue Sky Ge Rui

Qian Moumou is not only skilled in marketing but also shows a certain business acumen. As early as before utilizing Lantian Ge Rui for capital accumulation, she had already discovered the huge business opportunity of Bitcoin mining. In 2013, Qian Moumou established a relatively large "mining site" and publicly claimed to offer mining machine hosting services, promising an annualized return of 300%.

Through Bitcoin mining, a certain individual named Qian gradually learned about the advantages of Bitcoin in terms of capital transfer and Money Laundering compared to other assets. Therefore, she requested to convert the large amount of funds absorbed by Blue Sky Ge Rui into Bitcoin through certain platforms. This action can be used for investment and can also quickly transfer funds when necessary.

Case Progress and Asset Disposal

In April 2017, public security organs filed an investigation into Blue Sky Ge Rui on suspicion of the crime of illegally absorbing public deposits. In June 2019, the Hedong Branch of the Tianjin Public Security Bureau reported that 50 criminal suspects had been arrested, including the legal representative of the company, of which 28 were transferred for prosecution.

In February 2021, the People's Court of Hedong District, Tianjin publicly heard the case involving the legal representative of Lantian Ge Rui. The court found that between June 2014 and August 2017, the amount involved was more than 40.2 billion yuan. In the end, the main individuals involved were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment and fined.

Mr. Qian, after the incident, used the alias "Zhang Yadi" and entered the UK with a Saint Kitts and Nevis passport. It is reported that the laptop she carried contained a Bitcoin cold wallet, which held a large amount of funds from illegal fundraising. Currently, 128,000 Chinese investors are actively seeking recovery, but they are facing multiple difficulties such as cross-border debt collection, virtual currency ownership, and value conversion.

According to the special audit, Blue Sky Ge Rui has raised more than 40.2 billion yuan, of which more than 1.14 billion yuan was used to purchase Bitcoin. This means that when Mr. Money Laundering was caught in the UK, he may have held virtual assets worth at least 1 billion yuan.

Regarding the disposal of these virtual assets, a certain country's prosecutorial agency has initiated civil recovery procedures. If no other individuals or entities claim rights to the criminal assets, these assets will be allocated by the country's police and the Ministry of the Interior for handling the proceeds of crime and preventing further offenses.

The Dilemma of Investors Recovering Losses

For domestic investors, recovering losses is not an easy task. First, it is necessary to initiate civil recovery procedures for the frozen assets in the hands of a certain Mr. Qian, and only after the case judgment can the recovery process be advanced based on the registered creditor's claims. This process can be quite lengthy, similar to some other high-profile cryptocurrency cases.

This case also serves as a reminder to investors to remain vigilant when faced with investment projects that promise high returns. Excessive greed often leads people to fall into carefully designed scams. When investing, caution and rationality are always the best shields.