LONDON — A Chinese woman who masterminded a multibillion-dollar bitcoin scam and evaded authorities for years was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in jail by a UK court Tuesday.

Nicknamed the “goddess of wealth”, 47-year-old Zhimin Qian was accused of orchestrating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded around 128,000 people in China between 2014 and 2017.

It raised billions of dollars, much of which was converted to bitcoin.

After she came to the UK and during a multiyear investigation where she evaded capture, British police seized 61,000 bitcoin worth more than £5 billion ($6.6 billion), believed to be a record in crytocurrency-related crime.

She was arrested in the northern English city of York in 2024.

Qian, who pleaded guilty to acquiring and possessing criminal property in Septemb

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