£5.5bn fraud fixer admits laundering charge in UK record seizure of Bitcoin case

DEFENDANT WILL BE SENTENCED NEXT MONTH

- By MADDY BAILLIE

THE fixer for a fraudster at the centre of a scam which saw police make the UK's largest ever cryptocurrency seizure of Bitcoin worth more than £5.5billion has admitted money laundering.

Derbyshire man Hok Seng Ling, 47, pleaded guilty at London's Southwark Crown Court to entering into a money laundering arrangement on or before April 24, 2024.

He was dealing in cryptocurrency on behalf of 'mastermind' Yadi Zhang, also known as Zhimin Qian, and he knew or suspected his actions would “facilitate the acquisition or control of criminal property by another”, the charge states.

Confiscation proceedings have begun to try and claw back more than £16.2 million from Ling, but the figure will be adjusted to reflect cryptocurrency rates when he is sentenced in November, the court heard.