UK High Court rules Chinese law governs claims over $5 billion in seized bitcoin

A UK High Court judge has ruled that Chinese law must be used to decide whether victims of a multibillion-dollar investment fraud have rights to more than 61,000 BTC seized by London's Metropolitan Police.

Mr Justice Mark Turner handed down the judgment on Monday. The case concerns investors who lost money in Ponzi schemes run by Zhimin Qian in China between 2014 and 2017. At a hearing in July, the victims' lawyers wanted the High Court to apply English law, or a combination of English and Chinese law, to their claims, while prosecutors argued for Chinese law.

The bitcoin Bitcoin (BTC) was bought using proceeds from the fraud before Qian fled China for Myanmar in July 2017. Some was purchased through a Huobi (now HTX) trading account, while other purchases took place through over-the-counter transactions in China. Additional bitcoin was acquired through mining.

Qian later moved to London, where police seized devices used to access the bitcoin during searches in October and November 2018. She was sentenced to 11 years and eight months in prison last November after pleading guilty to money laundering offenses.

Ownership of seized bitcoin still undecided

The dispute forms part of civil recovery proceedings brought by the Director of Public Prosecutions, with investors seeking declarations under Section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 that the seized property "belongs to" them. Turner said applicants must show they have a proprietary interest in the bitcoin, rather than merely a claim for repayment from the fraudsters. 

A personal claim against the fraudsters, as a creditor for the value of the money paid, is not enough, law firm Duan & Duan, which represents some of the victims, explained.

As victims may struggle to establish ownership of the assets under Chinese law, the Financial Times reported that the ruling could improve the UK government's chances of retaining much of the seized bitcoin, valued at around £3.8 billion ($5 billion). 

The UK government holds an estimated 61,245 BTC ($5.1 billion) in total, according to wallet addresses labeled by onchain analytics platform Arkham. The UK ranks third among governments by bitcoin holdings, per Bitcoin Treasuries data, behind the United States with an estimated 328,372 BTC ($27.3 billion) and China with 190,000 BTC ($15.8 billion).

About 16,000 Chinese victims have joined the UK proceedings, Caixin reported. The outlet said they could be limited to their original investments and interest rather than a share of bitcoin's gains. 

Monday's ruling did not decide who owns the bitcoin, and the court must still determine whether the investors have ownership rights under Chinese law.

"Today's judgment is an important decision for the many thousands of Chinese investors who lost money in the Tianjin Lantian Gerui scheme," Duan & Duan UK LLP partner Jackson Ng said. "The Court has held that whether victims retain rights in the frozen bitcoin is to be decided under Chinese law." 

Fieldfisher, the lead firm representing individual claimants, told the FT it was pursuing an appeal against Turner's ruling.