Looking back at the Lantian Gerui case: Many people still feel blocked up when they think of Lantian Gerui. This company, under the banner of a government-cooperative elderly care project, advertised annual returns of about 10%, and repeatedly emphasized that the principal was absolutely safe. Countless ordinary people had their vigilance dispelled little by little by these promises. Some took out decades of pension money, some maxed out their credit cards, mortgaged their properties, and some brought in relatives and friends to invest together.

It was not until July 2017, when the Tianjin police filed a case for investigation, that the truth was gradually revealed by the media: From 2014 to 2017, Lantian Gerui had illegally absorbed public deposits of more than 40 billion yuan, involving 31 provinces and cities across the country and approximately 128,000 victims, most of whom were middle-aged and elderly people and ordinary wage-earning families. What was even more unacceptable was that the money that everyone thought was invested in the project was not used for real projects, but was transferred layer by layer by the principal offender Qian Zhimin and others, of which at least 1.1 billion+ yuan was converted into approximately 61,000 Bitcoin, and Qian Zhimin took the Bitcoin and disappeared in China to purchase a large number of luxury homes in the UK.

Years later, the UK police seized these 61,000 Bitcoin in a cryptocurrency money laundering case. On November 11, 2025, Qian Zhimin was sentenced to 11 years and 8 months in prison by the Southwark Criminal Court in London for Bitcoin money laundering. For many victims, this verdict makes them feel that justice has been served to some extent, but many victims also quickly realized: Qian Zhimin’s sentence is just retribution. Will the UK court directly return the funds involved to the Chinese victims? What procedures are required? How does the UK court now arrange for these funds involved?

During the Spring Festival of 2026, while we were busy celebrating the New Year, the UK High Court held a two-day trial in Manchester. The content was to determine the next distribution rules for the funds involved: how to deal with these more than 60,000 Bitcoin in the next step, and who is eligible to participate in the distribution. At present, the court has adopted a two-pronged approach to this case, with each performing its own functions: one is the “company line”, that is, Lantian Gerui, as a shell company, how to liquidate the remaining assets and liabilities of the company, which follows the procedures of company bankruptcy and liquidation, and is the responsibility of the liquidator designated by the UK court. This part is not very relevant to the victims and is a matter at the company level.

The other is the “individual line”, which is most closely related to the victims. The UK court recognizes that every investor who invested money in Lantian Gerui in those years is a separate obligee. As long as they submit an agency application (equivalent to registering with the court) and submit materials within the prescribed time, they will have the opportunity to file a claim with the UK court: the agency law firms entrusted by them will independently apply through Section 281 of the UK Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA).

Regarding the rights declaration procedure of the “individual line”, the UK court has now set several key time points, which everyone must remember: once the deadline is exceeded, they will face the risk of completely losing the right to claim.

1. Deadline for agency application: May 22, 2026. Legal requirements: The agent lawyers of all victims must submit litigation applications or agency announcements to the court before this time point. After May 22, the court will no longer accept the intervention of new law firms. Action guide: Victims who have not yet entrusted an agent lawyer must complete the signing of the entrustment agreement as soon as possible, and reserve sufficient time for cross-border entrustment and document processing to avoid failure to apply due to overdue.

2. Deadline for submitting materials: June 19, 2026. Legal requirements: The application materials of the victims need to be submitted to the court, which mainly includes the following core information: name, ID documents, date of birth, and current address. Action guide: For victims who have not taken action and want to join the rights protection, please be sure to submit the above information to the court as soon as possible. In addition, you also need to submit evidence materials such as the investment amount, the amount of refund, and the amount that has been compensated. As mentioned earlier, since all law firms must complete the registration with the court before May 22, the time window actually left for new customers to prepare materials and complete cross-border docking is already very tight.

3. Decide on legal application disputes: July 2026. In July of this year, the UK court will hold a special hearing on the issue of legal application in this case. The basis for the victims in this case to claim rights from the court is Section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA), and the core threshold for using this clause is that the victim must prove to the judge that he has ownership of the assets involved, and cannot merely be a creditor. Regarding this core threshold, the court’s final decision to apply UK law or Chinese law will have different legal consequences for the victims.

Application of UK law: There is hope to claim the principal + appreciation of Bitcoin. UK equity law recognizes the principles of tracing and recovery and the theory of presumed trust. Lawyers have sufficient legal basis to argue that even if the victim’s legal currency has been converted into Bitcoin and commingled, the victim still enjoys property rights in the asset. If supported by the court, the victim can not only establish the right to return, but also expect to claim the appreciation dividend based on the current market value of Bitcoin.

Application of Chinese law: The appreciation part of Bitcoin may be rejected by the court. According to China’s judicial practice, in illegal fund-raising cases, after the victim pays the funds, they are often defined as creditors who only enjoy the right to claim compensation for losses, but the identity of a pure creditor is not sufficient to meet the statutory requirements under Section 281 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA). If Chinese law is applied, it will be extremely difficult for victims to claim the appreciation part of Bitcoin.

What should Lantian Gerui victims do now? Combining the rules set by the UK court, we can give you a more practical suggestion: before May 22, register your name and materials with the UK court through a compliant law firm. According to the ruling of the UK court, the Lead Firm is for the court to do some coordination work out of consideration for case management and convenient communication, which does not mean that you can only seek rights protection from the Lead Firm.

Man Kun has rich experience in Lantian Gerui cases, and we keep in touch with UK law firms about the progress of the case. Our UK partner law firm has highly recognized our case organization, relationship amount sorting, Chinese-English translation, and full case summary. We will also carry out support work in the litigation involving Chinese law and related procedures. Man Kun Law Firm cooperates with UK law firms to collect and organize victim information and provide litigation support, and establish the victim’s ownership claim to specific Bitcoin units (or equivalent legal currency and appreciation part).

What do victims need to prepare? Immediately register information and enter our registration roster; register investment amount and timeline, collection account information, transfer/flow, contract and receipt, and communication records with the handler; if you have reported to the police, please provide the receipt or number; if the information is incomplete, please register first, and we will give you a supplementary material list to complete in batches. In addition, in mid-April, the UK law firm Candey will visit China and will conduct project seminars with Man Kun on cross-border asset recovery. Man Kun and Candey will organize a seminar in Shenzhen with the Hong Kong Anti-Money Laundering Alliance (HKAML).

Legal statement: This article is a popularization of law and action guide based on public information and known procedure nodes, and does not constitute a formal legal opinion on any individual case. For individual case evaluation, please communicate with our professional lawyers one-on-one. Authors of this article: Shi Wei, Zhou Xiangyi, Cheng Chuying

[Man Kun Law Firm]