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The victims of an investment fraud scheme facilitated by an electronics company in China are looking to recover $4.3 billion in Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) bought with their money with the help of the United Kingdom government.&nbsp;&nbsp;
A group representing the scam victims reportedly <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/605a7ca9-3f5f-47e6-ab5c-818b9a1bf0d5" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">submitted</a> a letter to the foreign ministry of Beijing requesting it to negotiate with the U.K. government to recover the seized Bitcoin.&nbsp;
The funds were taken through a $6.2 billion investment scheme conducted by Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology from 2014 to 2017.&nbsp;
The group, which also contacted China’s Ministry of Public Security, said it collected almost 2,500 signatures from victims and plans to submit them to both ministries.
The letter calls for the Chinese government to cooperate with the U.K. and provide evidence demonstrating their rightful ownership of the Bitcoin.&nbsp; The letter said:
<blockquote data-ct-non-breakable="true">
 “We do not want, and will never accept, a situation where Bitcoins are confiscated by the UK and not returned to us.”
</blockquote>
The U.K. government has not said how it wil deal with the Bitcoin seized in the case. 
U.K. authorities seized the cryptocurrency after former hospitality worker Jian Wen attempted to launder funds by <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/30-m-mansion-purchase-1-7-b-bitcoin-seizure">buying a $30 million mansion</a> with BTC. The purchase failed when Wen could not explain the source of the funds. 
<figure>
 <img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-04/05c79293-d827-41a5-bbe8-af741342a973.jpg">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Image of the property that Wen attempted to purchase. Source: Sky News
 </figcaption>
</figure>
This led to an investigation by the authorities, culminating in a raid on a house in 2021. At the time, police found 61,000 BTC in the property rented by Wen and her boss, Zhimin Qian, the suspected mastermind of the investment fraud scheme. 
Related: <a href="http://crypto.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Couple mistakenly sent $10.5M by Crypto.com to face October plea hearing</a>
The BTC was worth $1.7 billion when it was seized in 2021 but is now worth about $4.3 billion as Bitcoin’s price has risen.
Wen initially claimed that the Bitcoin had been mined but eventually changed her story, saying it was a “love present” from Qian, who had fled the U.K. 
Wen was charged with three counts of money laundering between October 2017 and January 2022. While she denied all the charges, Southwark Crown Court <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/hospitality-worker-bitcoin-seizure-southwark-crown-court">found Wen guilty of money laundering</a> on March 20. 
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/30-m-mansion-purchase-1-7-b-bitcoin-seizure">$308M crypto laundering scheme busted, Hashkey token, Hong Kong CBDC: Asia Express</a>

Fraud victims want China to recover $4.3B worth of Bitcoin seized by UK police

Cointelegraph

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