A woman has been convicted for her role in a multibillion-pound bitcoin fraud after what is thought to have been the world’s largest cryptocurrency seizure. Zhimin Qian, also known as Yadi Zhang, 45, orchestrated a fraud in China between 2014 and 2017 that left 128,000 people out of pocket. She stored the proceeds in bitcoin, but UK authorities made a breakthrough in the case when they raided a Hampstead mansion in 2018 and seized devices from Qian holding 61,000 bitcoins, worth more than £5bn at current prices. The Metropolitan police…
Tag: UK news
The aide, the associate and the ‘Chinese agent’ – and the collapse of a long-awaited UK spy trial
Shortly before 10am on Monday, the Conservative MP Alicia Kearns received an unwelcome phone call. “I don’t know how to tell you this,” said the specialist police officer on the line. Ten minutes later the Old Bailey heard what Kearns now knew. A long-awaited trial of two men – a former parliamentary aide to Kearns, Christopher Cash, and an associate, Christopher Berry – accused of spying for China was to be abandoned. “The cops were equally disappointed,” Kearns told the Guardian. The trial had been expected to be an extraordinary…
Parliament vulnerable to ‘foreign actors’ after China spying charges dropped, Commons speaker says
The UK parliament has been left vulnerable to “foreign actors” after charges against two men suspected of spying for China were dropped, the speaker of the House of Commons has warned. Speaking to the Times, Lindsay Hoyle said the decision to drop the charges effectively gave Beijing “licence to operate” within parliament. Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, had denied accusations of providing information prejudicial to the interests of the state in breach of the Official Secrets Act between December 2021 and February 2023. The men were due to…
Temu’s UK operation doubles revenues and pre-tax profits
The UK operation of the Chinese online marketplace Temu doubled revenues and pre-tax profits last year, as British consumers snapped up products offered by the super-budget retailer. Temu UK reported revenues of $63.3m (£46.4m) last year, almost double the $32m in 2023, while pre-tax profits similarly surged from $2m to $3.9m, accounts show. However, at an operating level, the company, which files under the name Whaleco UK at Companies House, reported losses widening from $7.9m to $8.7m year-on-year. The company put most of its broadening operating loss down to “exchange…
The Guardian view on Merck’s exit: Britain’s biopharma strategy stalls in the face of China’s rise | Editorial
The industry’s retreat from the UK reflects a deeper shift about how Beijing is rewriting the rules of innovation When Merck abruptly scrapped its billion-pound London research hub last week, critics blamed Britain’s lacklustre support for life sciences and a Scrooge-like grip on NHS drug prices. But one important factor may have been missed. That Merck, which is also cutting jobs elsewhere – 6,000 globally – is recalibrating not just in response to the UK or the US, but to China. Merck’s cash cow is pembrolizumab (brand name Keytruda), an…
Top Starmer aide resigns over explicit Diane Abbott messages in further blow to PM – UK politics live
From 20h ago No 10 director of strategy resigns over revelation about sexually explicit comments about Diane Abbott in private email in 2017 Keir Starmer has been hit by a fresh Downing Street resignation. Paul Ovenden has resigned as director of strategy at No 10 over revelations, first published by the Mail, that in 2017 he made sexually explicit comments about Diane Abbott in a private email. Ovenden was a Labour party press officer at the time. In his story for the Mail, Dan Hodges reports: The Mail understands that…
British prosecutors drop case against two men accused of spying for China
British prosecutors have said they are dropping charges against two men, including a former researcher for a senior UK politician, who had been accused of spying for China. Christopher Berry. Photograph: Tayfun Salcı/Zuma Press Wire/Rex/Shutterstock The men, ex-researcher Christopher Cash, 30, and Christopher Berry, 33, had denied accusations of providing information prejudicial to the interests of the state in breach of the Official Secrets Act between December 2021 and February 2023. The men were due to go on trial next month but prosecutor Tom Little told the Old Bailey court…
Sainsbury’s in talks to sell Argos to Chinese retailer JD.com
Sainsbury’s ill-starred ownership of the Argos retail business looks likely to end as the supermarket negotiates a sale to the Chinese retailer JD.com. No agreement has yet been reached but Sainsbury’s confirmed it was in discussions to hive off Argos, the general merchandise arm it bought for more than £1bn less than a decade ago. Sainsbury’s said a sale to JD.com would speed up the transformation of Argos, whose business has gone increasingly online and within larger Sainsbury’s branches. JD.com (unrelated to JD Sports) is one of China’s biggest retailers…
Chinese carmakers told to improve locking devices for UK market
British authorities may have well-founded concerns about the cyber-spying threat from vehicles made in China, but it turns out the country’s manufacturers have security worries of their own. Insurers have told Chinese carmakers they need certain critical modifications for vehicles on British streets: namely, tougher locking devices to make them harder to steal. With an average of 11 reported vehicle thefts an hour in the UK, and car crime comparatively rare under Beijing’s strict authoritarian regime, industry sources said it had been a “swift learning curve”. Additions to cars exported…
UK’s new business secretary Peter Kyle expected to visit Beijing in first week
The UK’s new business secretary, Peter Kyle, is expected to fly to Beijing this week as part of Keir Starmer’s continuing efforts to revitalise the UK’s trade relationship with China and provide growth to the British economy. The former science and technology secretary, who was promoted in Friday’s government reshuffle, is expected to land in China on Wednesday, picking up the schedule of his predecessor, Jonathan Reynolds, who is now the chief whip. Kyle will first travel to Washington as part of the preparations for Donald Trump’s state visit to…