The UK government was founded by the blockchain analytics platform that held billions of dollars in Bitcoin in the past few years.

Arkham Intelligence, on the on-chain analytics data on Dec. 06, has found the wallet that is connected to the UK government that holds 61.245k Bitcoin (BTC) worth $6 billion. This wallet has also gained profit from the Bitcoin price movement, with more than $28 million in unrealised profit.

It is stated by Arkham that the Bitcoin owned by the UK government is a seized asset from Zhimin Qian, a fraudster with a multi-billion pound scam.

“The UK government now holds $6 billion USD of Bitcoin. They have been holding this for 3.5 Years after its seizure from Zhimin Qian in 2021,”

Arkham stated on X post

Although the last time this wallet was actively used was 3 months ago, the seized Bitcoin that they received only happened 3 years ago. The first time, they received 2,400 Bitcoins worth $93 million, and they got the same amount at a different transaction. In the last one, they received 19.200 Bitcoin worth $750 million.

UK government accused Zhimin Qian

Zhimin Qian, a Chinese nationality, defrauded 130,000 Chinese investors of $5.6 billion between 2014 and 2017. She was enlisted by Jian Wen, who had already been sentenced to 6 years in prison due to the money laundering plot.

Qian will face the trial in September next year at Southwark Crown Court, where a co-defendant, Seng Hok Ling, has also pleaded not guilty to related charges.

Celcius, a global crypto and Bitcoin mining company has faced a fraud case since last year. Now, the founder pleaded guilty and agreed to be jailed for 30 years.

Alex Mashinsky, the founder and ex-CEO of Celcius Network, is set to plead guilty to fraud charges, Reuters reported on Dec. 03. The federal prosecutor accused Mashinsky of pursuing customers to invest in them and unnaturally inflating the value of the company on the crypto token.

In order to deal with prosecutors, Mashinsky agreed to be jailed in prison for 30 years or less. Therefore, his sentence is set to be announced by the court later next year on Apr. 08.

“I know what I did was wrong, and I want to try to do whatever I can to make it right,” he said.

Previously, he was counted for seven charges, including fraud, conspiracy, and market manipulation since last year. In court, he stated that he pleaded guilty to two out of those seven charges, which were commodity fraud and manipulating the Celcius token (CEL) price back in 2021.

Celcius price movement

Since the token was released, the CEL price has seen a meteoric increase of 14,700% from $0.05 to $7.4 in 2021. The surged price was only recorded in that year; after being accused, CEL saw an outflow and made the price go back to under $1 until Mashinsky’s arrest in July. 13; the token price was only $0.1.

Another development of the cases, Ben Armstrong, known as BitBoy Crypto, believes that Canadian businessman Kevin O’Leary was a key player in Celcius’s bankruptcy, as well as the FTX.

Juan Tacuri has been sentenced to a maximum of 240 months for his role in the Forcount Ponzi scheme.

Tacuri was a senior promoter in the Forcount Ponzi scheme that defrauded thousands of investors, primarily in Spanish-speaking communities, according to court documents. The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, under Judge Analisa Torres, delivered the maximum sentence for his role in the crypto-based fraud. 

Tacuri, 46, was ordered to pay over $3.6 million in restitution and forfeit a home in Florida that was purchased with stolen funds.

Crypto fraud details

Forcount, later known as Weltsys, falsely claimed to engage in crypto mining and trading. Tacuri and other promoters told investors they could guarantee daily returns and double their investments within six months. 

However, the company was not involved in any legitimate crypto activities. Instead, Forcount operated as a classic Ponzi scheme, using new investments to pay off earlier participants while its promoters enriched themselves.

Victims were primarily working-class, Spanish-speaking individuals. Tacuri traveled across the United States, hosting events to attract more investors. These expos, ranging from small community gatherings to larger-scale events, featured Tacuri boasting about his financial success and promoting Forcount’s products.

Investors were led to believe they would achieve financial freedom through these investments.

Despite mounting complaints as early as 2018, when investors discovered they could not withdraw funds, Tacuri and other promoters continued to push the scheme.

‘Mindexcoin’

To address liquidity issues, the scheme introduced proprietary tokens called “Mindexcoin,” claiming they would hold value. These tokens ultimately became worthless, leading to further losses.

Tacuri’s sentence, which includes one year of supervised release, follows impact statements from more than 20 victims during the sentencing. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams emphasized that Tacuri’s actions were a clear case of fraud disguised as cutting-edge crypto investing. “Fraud does not pay,” Williams stated.