A collective of people, who have been defrauded by a Chinese electronics company, are asking for help from the UK government to retrieve $4.3 billion in Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency was acquired with their money, and they are seeking assistance in recovering it.

The group has sent a letter to the Chinese foreign ministry, urging them to negotiate with the UK government to help retrieve the seized Bitcoin. The funds were reportedly taken through a $6.2 billion investment scheme run by Tianjin Lantian Gerui Electronic Technology from 2014 to 2017.

The victims have also contacted China's Ministry of Public Security, gathering nearly 2,500 signatures from those affected. They plan to submit these signatures to both Chinese ministries, requesting their collaboration in providing evidence of their ownership of the Bitcoin.

The letter emphasizes that the victims do not want the Bitcoin to be confiscated by the UK without being returned to them. The UK government has not yet disclosed how they plan to handle the seized Bitcoin.

The cryptocurrency was confiscated by UK authorities after a former hospitality worker, Jian Wen, attempted to buy a $30 million mansion with Bitcoin. The transaction failed when Wen could not justify the source of the funds. This led to an investigation, which resulted in a raid on a house in 2021.

During the raid, police discovered 61,000 Bitcoin in a property rented by Wen and her boss, Zhimin Qian. Qian is suspected of being the mastermind behind the fraudulent investment scheme. The Bitcoin was worth $1.7 billion when it was seized in 2021, but its value has since increased to about $4.3 billion due to the rise in Bitcoin's price.

Wen initially claimed that the Bitcoin had been mined but later changed her narrative, stating it was a "love present" from Qian, who had fled the UK. Wen was charged with three counts of money laundering between October 2017 and January 2022. Despite denying all charges, Southwark Crown Court found Wen guilty of money laundering on March 20.