Chinese Woman Dubbed “Seductive Enchantress” Used Her Looks to Run S$5.1bil Bitcoin Scam

When Chinese national Qian Zhimin pleaded guilty on September 29 in the UK court to a Bitcoin money laundering case, scamming close to 28.3bil yuan (S$5.1bil), few batted an eyelid.

Another scam, another day, right?

However, when it was revealed that the 47-year-old fraud was nicknamed “seductive enchantress” for reportedly using her looks to charm Chinese officials into not only investing, but ignoring her criminal activities, we had to rub our eyes and look again.

We get that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder… But really? Were they blindfolded?

This was the face of a woman, who according to reports, operated a massive fraud operation in China scamming more than 120,000 victims, mostly aged 50 to 75 from 2014 to 2017.

For an investment of 30K yuan (S$5.4K) to 60K yuan ($10.9K), the victims were promised about 160 yuan (S$29) in dividends every day during the contract period.

Using a fake name and forged documents, she managed to evade law enforcement for five years, fleeing China and successfully enter the UK.

Zhimin was eventually targeted by police in September 2018 after she attempted to launder funds to purchase real estate in the UK.

In addition to a digital wallet of 61,000 bitcoins (S$144,573), a diary where Zhimin detailed down her grand plans for the future was also uncovered.

She had plans to buy an unrecognised microstate between Croatia and Serbia, in a bid to obtain diplomatic immunity.

Despite Zhimin pleading guilty, it is reported that some of her investors are defending her innocence, refusing to believe that she is a scammer.

However, netizens were left stunned, many speculating that she never used her real picture.

“Did they meet her in the dark?” read a comment, while others believed she must have used a filter to change her appearance.

Photos: Chinapress