We are building Liberland for honest people not for criminals

By Vít Jedlička, President of Liberland  

15 November 2025

The conviction in London of Qian Zhimin – dubbed in some headlines the “Liberland queen” – has shone a  spotlight on our young republic. Let me be unequivocal: **Liberland has never had any contact with Ms Qian and her chances of becoming queen here are zero**

Liberland is a constitutional republic founded on meritocracy, democratic veto, and a simple pledge every citizen must make: *“I shall not steal from my fellow citizens – neither directly nor through the state.”* Citizenship is granted only to those with a clean criminal record. We screen every applicant, and every cryptocurrency contribution is automatically checked for illicit origin by our payment provider. If red flags appear, the transaction is blocked before it reaches us.

These safeguards are not theoretical. We are just starting the process of reworking one citizenship after discovering a concealed criminal past, and our new citizenship law allows removal up to 12 years after entry if material facts were withheld.

### The Qian case: separating fact from exaggeration

Much of the reporting on Ms Qian’s case has been misleading. The headline figure of “$6.7 billion embezzled” refers to the **total inflows** into the Lantian Gerui Ponzi scheme – not the amount she personally extracted. Court documents and Chinese investigations show that:

– Vast majority of investor funds were redistributed as “returns” to sustain the scheme.  

– Ms Qian siphoned off roughly **$28 million** to buy ~70,000 bitcoins at an average of $400 each.  

– Similar sums covered jewellery, UK rent, and operational costs.  

Only ~1,300 of the 129,000 investors – **just 1%** – have so far lodged claims with UK authorities. Even if claims eventually reach £1 billion, the British government will likely retain the bulk of the seized bitcoins, now worth over £5.7 billion thanks to appreciation. That is roughly the UK’s annual aid package to Ukraine.

**To be clear: the seized assets have appreciated by more than 200 times their original purchase price.** This mathematical reality does not diminish the harm done to victims – many of whom lost life savings and face ongoing hardship. But it does mean that, in purely financial terms, the bitcoin windfall now vastly exceeds the net losses suffered by investors. Whether those gains should be returned in full victims, or retained by the UK state, or returned to Quin I am leaving open now for your judgement. The average claim from 1300 people claiming the damage is 40 thousand pounds. If the UK government was to evenly distribute the profit they would be getting more than 4 million pounds each!

Ms Qian’s diary reportedly outlined a plan to repay all investors once Bitcoin hit £50,000 – a level first reached in February 2021. That plan became impossible after UK police seized the wallets in October 2018.

Liberland’s vision: freedom without theft

Liberland was created to prove that a society can flourish without the coercive taxation and regulatory overreach that plague traditional states. As Frédéric Bastiat warned, *“The state is the great fiction through which everyone endeavours to live at the expense of everyone else.”* We reject that fiction.

In Liberland, influence is earned through **merit** – verifiable contributions to building the state – not wealth or popularity. Democracy alone has failed to prevent corruption or the tyranny of the majority over the minority. Our system combines merit-based voting power with democratic public veto and Senate oversight to keep power in check.

We are proud to attract liberty-minded figures from around the world, including our serving Prime Minister, Justin Sun. But wealth alone buys nothing here. Every contribution is scrutinized and fairly rewarded.

Liberland is not a playground for fugitives. It is a serious experiment in voluntary governance, designed exclusively for honest people who wish to prosper without oppressing others. Criminals will find no refuge here – only rigorous transparency and the rule of law.

We invite the world to watch, critique, and – if they share our values – to join us in building the freest nation on Earth.