Can Victims of the $10 Billion Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Case Recover Funds from Blue Sky Integrity?
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Can Victims of the $10 Billion Cryptocurrency Money Laundering Case Recover Funds from Blue Sky Integrity?
When illegal fundraising meets money laundering, Blue Sky Grace becomes enigmatic.
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsBy Xiao Sa, lawyer
Back in May this year, Team Sa wrote two articles about Qian Moumou—the main suspect in the Blue Sky Grid case—being apprehended in the UK. Just days ago, Qian Moumou (formerly known by aliases Zhang Yadi and "Huahua"), accused of operating the UK's largest Bitcoin money laundering scheme and also involved in Blue Sky Grid’s alleged illegal public deposit-taking, pleaded not guilty to the Bitcoin money laundering charges at Southwark Crown Court in London.
Today, let Team Sa walk you through this case once again and take a closer look at who Qian really is.
Who exactly is Qian Moumou?
The story of Qian Moumou is shrouded in mystery, beginning as far back as March 2014, when Qian—also known as "Huahua" or "Sister Hua"—colluded with Ren Moumou (legal representative) and others to establish Tianjin GeRui Electronic Technology Co., Ltd. in Tianjin. Through this company, they promoted and sold so-called “principal-guaranteed high-return” short-term investment financial products to elderly individuals. Ren was arrested back in 2021. According to his confession, he met Qian while playing online games and, having fully obeyed her commands during gameplay, was appointed by Qian as the legal representative of Blue Sky Grid—though merely in name. In reality, all operations followed Qian’s instructions.
These financial products offered investment terms ranging from 6 to 30 months, promising annualized returns of between 100% and 300%. During an era of weak financial regulation, Blue Sky Grid rapidly expanded using pyramid-scheme-style viral marketing, establishing dozens of branches nationwide and amassing over 100,000 victims. Using this method of illegally collecting deposits from seniors, Qian quickly accumulated hundreds of billions of yuan in funds.
But who exactly is Qian Moumou? Even Blue Sky Grid investors know very little about her background. Official channels claimed that Qian graduated from Tsinghua University and held a doctoral degree from the institution.
However, Team Sa searched for Qian’s name in Tsinghua University’s official “Tsinghua Person” app and found no alumni record—indicating that Qian’s claim of being a “Ph.D. from Tsinghua University” is likely false. Some investors have heard that Qian studied in the United States and has financial expertise. It's also said that she suffered a serious car accident in China, which left her with significant mobility and respiratory issues, forcing her to use a wheelchair.
This account appears credible. A self-media report revealed that in 2016, Blue Sky Grid held a promotional event in Beijing where Qian, wearing a white veil and seated in a wheelchair, was carried aloft by supporters along the aisle toward the stage. As they lifted her, the crowd chanted slogans such as: “Give GeRui three years, and GeRui will give you three lifetimes of wealth.” Clearly, this had all the hallmarks of a criminal cult-like operation.
Besides being exceptionally persuasive and offering grand promises like exchanging three years for eternal prosperity, Qian also demonstrated real business acumen—making her a seasoned player in the crypto space, a true “old squid” of the industry. Well before exploiting Blue Sky Grid for fundraising, she had already recognized the massive potential in Bitcoin mining.
In 2013, riding on the first major surge in Bitcoin popularity, Qian set up a large-scale mining farm and aggressively marketed it as offering hosted mining services with promised annual returns of 300%. Through Bitcoin mining, she came to understand Bitcoin’s superior advantages over traditional assets in fund transfers and money laundering. Seizing the regulatory gap before global anti-crypto-money-laundering frameworks were established, she instructed Ren Jiangtao to convert vast sums raised by Tianjin GeRui into Bitcoin via platforms like Huobi. This was a clever move—one allowing her to either double down or make a quick escape.
Blue Sky Grid’s model was clearly classic illegal deposit-taking, with zero compliance possibility. Its downfall was inevitable.
On April 21, 2017, law enforcement opened an investigation into Blue Sky Grid for suspected illegal public deposit-taking. In June 2019, the Hedong District Public Security Bureau of Tianjin announced that 50 suspects—including Blue Sky Grid’s legal representative, Ren Jiangtao—had been arrested, with 28 transferred for prosecution. In February 2021, the Hedong District People’s Court in Tianjin publicly tried Ren Moumou, alongside his assistant Huang Moumou—who was also his girlfriend. The court confirmed that between June 2014 and August 2017, Ren participated in raising over 40.2 billion yuan illegally; Huang was involved in raising over 17.6 billion yuan. In September 2021, Ren was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 500,000 yuan; Huang received a five-year sentence and a 250,000-yuan fine.
Qian denies all money laundering charges – What happens to the debts owed?
After Ren’s arrest, Qian’s story took an even more dramatic turn. She assumed the alias “Zhang Yadi,” obtained a passport from Saint Kitts and Nevis, and used it to enter the UK. Upon entry, she carried a laptop containing a Bitcoin cold wallet loaded with illicit funds raised by Blue Sky Grid. The 128,000 Chinese investors affected have been actively seeking compensation but continue to face challenges including cross-border debt recovery, ownership disputes over virtual currencies, and valuation conversion.
How much was involved? According to a special audit of the Blue Sky Grid case, between August 2014 and July 2017, the company collected over 40.2 billion yuan—all controlled and directed by Qian Zhimin. Between April 2014 and August 2017, Blue Sky Grid repaid over 34.1 billion yuan to 128,409 people, spent over 95.68 million yuan on jewelry purchases, over 91.89 million yuan on real estate, over 210 million yuan on daily operations, and 120 million yuan on the Life Ring Customer Service Center project. Notably, over 1.14 billion yuan was spent purchasing Bitcoin. In other words, when Qian was captured in the UK, she likely still possessed virtual assets worth at least 1 billion RMB.
Regarding the disposition of these digital assets, the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) issued a notice on October 22 specifically informing Chinese victims: The CPS initiated civil recovery proceedings earlier this year regarding assets frozen from Qian and others. Earlier in the year, the CPS filed civil recovery claims with the High Court. If no other individual or entity asserts rightful ownership over the criminal assets, half will go to UK police forces and half to the UK Home Office, aimed at managing proceeds of crime and preventing further criminal activity.
Final Thoughts
As domestic investors, how can you recover these funds? The UK authorities have made their position clear—it mirrors the approach taken in the FTX case. The first step is initiating civil recovery proceedings against the frozen assets under Qian’s control. Only after a court ruling will compensation progress based on registered creditor claims.
Undoubtedly, this process will take a long time (similar to the FTX case), and recovering losses for Chinese investors won’t be easy. This case serves as a stark reminder: Why do people fall for such obvious scams? Once again, the lesson is clear: When investing, never be greedy. Once greed takes hold, deception follows closely behind.
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