UK Proposes Compensation Mechanism for Victims of 61,000 Bitcoin Fraud

On October 16th, the United Kingdom proposed to establish a compensation mechanism for victims of 61,000 bitcoin scams, an arrangement that could allow the British Treasury to keep about 5 billion pounds of bitcoin assets. The huge cryptocurrency assets are at the center of a dispute in the High Court in London between British officials and thousands of scammed Chinese investors. Investors believe that the British government should not profit from the scam. Stephen Parkinson, the British attorney general, has informed victims that such a compensation mechanism is possible, but details have not been released.
Back in 2018, police seized 61,000 bitcoins at a mansion in Hampstead, north London. The crypto assets have skyrocketed in value over the past seven years and are currently valued at around £5 billion. The British government is currently trying to keep most of the assets. Qian Zhimin, 47, also known as Zhang Yadi, pleaded guilty to money laundering charges at Southwark Crown Court in London last month with her Malaysian assistant Seng Hok Ling, 47, and is expected to be sentenced next month.
The court also heard that UK authorities recently gained access to additional crypto assets worth around 67 million pounds. Martin Evans KC, a lawyer representing the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said in a written statement that Zhang Yadi handed over access codes and passwords to a ledger and two cryptocurrency wallets last month.