Thomas Daniels
In a London court, Jian Wen is facing allegations of laundering Bitcoin as part of a purported $6 billion investment fraud, while her defense argues she was unwittingly manipulated by the real architect of the scheme.
The case against Wen includes accusations of converting Bitcoin into cash for her boss, Yadi Zhang, using intermediaries and using the proceeds to buy property in Dubai. Despite this, Wen maintains she was oblivious to the illicit origins of her employer’s wealth when authorities confiscated over £1.7 billion in Bitcoin from her residence.
Mark Harris, Wen’s defense attorney, portrayed Zhang as the cunning brain behind the operation, branding him a “super villain.”
Harris emphasized that Wen was an unwilling pawn in Zhang’s elaborate fraud that misled approximately 130,000 investors with complex investment schemes throughout China.
The defense sheds light on Zhang’s entry into the U.K. in 2017 with a St. Kitts and Nevis passport and his subsequent escape in 2020, branding him a “master of deception.” It also pointed out Wen’s drastic shift from working in fast food to being implicated in Zhang’s money laundering activities in 2017, underscoring her role as an inadvertent participant in Zhang’s machinations.
Harris also unveiled Zhang’s ambitious plan to establish a dominion in Liberland, a self-proclaimed micro-nation between Croatia and Serbia, positioning Jian as an essential but unsuspecting component in this grand scheme.
