In brief
- A now-estranged wife is alleged to have stolen $172 million in Bitcoin from her husband.
- A court filing alleges that she used CCTV footage to obtain the seed phrase for a hardware wallet containing the Bitcoin.
- After being warned of the potential theft, the husband set up audio equipment to try and capture evidence against his wife.
The wife of a UK resident is alleged to have stolen around $172 million in Bitcoin from her husband, according to court documents filed in the UK’s High Court of Justice last week.
The individual, Ping Fai Yuen, had more than 2,323 Bitcoin securely stored on his Trezor hardware wallet in 2023. But on August 2 of that year, unbeknownst to Ping, 2,323 Bitcoin was transferred from his wallet, and after multiple transactions, was dispersed across 71 different Bitcoin addresses. No transactions have taken place since December 21, 2023.
Warned by his daughter that July that his now-estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, was trying to take his Bitcoin, Ping installed audio equipment in his residence. That led to recordings which allegedly implicate Fun, who potentially with the help of her sister, a second named defendant, Lai Yung Li, secretly recorded him and stole his seed phrase.
“A recording of July 29, 2023 has been described on behalf of [Ping Fai Yuen] as capturing [Fun Yung Li] discussing CCTV which has been set up in the house, where the claimant sat and hid the password, using the wallet,” the court documents say. The filing further alleges that the wife was “covertly recording” him in an effort to gain access to his Bitcoin holdings.
Excerpts from the audio recordings contain phrases like “The Bitcoin has transferred to me” and “take all of it,” according to the filing.
Upon discovering his Bitcoin had moved, Ping confronted his wife and assaulted her, leading to his arrest and later guilty plea on counts of “assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two offenses of common assault.”
He also reported the theft of his Bitcoin to the police, which led to the arrest of Fun in 2023. Police found and seized 10 crypto cold wallets, at least three with names attributable to Ping, but ultimately released Fun after she provided a no comment interview and made bail.
“The police have since confirmed they would take no further action pending new evidence,” the court doc says.
In November 2025, Ping applied for a “proprietary asset preservation injunction,” seeking a declaration of ownership of the BTC, a freezing of Fun’s crypto assets, and a return of the Bitcoin or an equivalent amount of GBP—the United Kingdom’s fiat currency.
In a judgement following a March 2 hearing, Justice Cotter said he thinks Ping has a high chance of succeeding in the claim.
“In my judgment the claimant has demonstrated a very high probability of success,” he wrote. “The evidence is that he was warned of what the First Defendant was seeking to do, the transcripts are damning; and when the First Defendant’s property was searched, the necessary equipment to exfiltrate the Bitcoin was found.”
“Twenty-four years as a first instance judge have repeatedly highlighted the wisdom of applying Occam’s razor,” he added, noting the principle which suggests that the simplest explanation is likely the best explanation.
Cotter also noted that Fun has had an opportunity to share her record of the events, but has opted not to do so. In his final remarks, the judge noted that given Bitcoin’s volatility, “an early trial is necessary.”
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Source: https://decrypt.co/361291/man-alleges-wife-stole-171-million-bitcoin-covertly-recording
