Latest news with #ZiangLi
Sunday World
08-08-2025
- Sunday World
Chinese student stopped by airport cops claimed €43k cash was being used to buy Rolex watches
'absolutely incredible' | The judge said that the defendant's account 'doesn't stand up to any scrutiny'. Rolex Daydate 36mm in gold While Ziang Li claims that he is a student and that the cash he had been sent by his parents, a deeply sceptical District Judge Peter King told the 33-year-old, 'I do not believe a word of what I have been told.' 'The story presented to me is absolutely incredible,' the judge told Coleraine Magistrates Court, adding that the defendant's account 'doesn't stand up to any scrutiny.' Li, with an address at Sanderson Villas in Newcastle, is charged with possessing criminal property on 7 August this year. While the defendant confirmed that he understood the charge, a police officer gave evidence that she believed she could connect Li to the charge. Rolex Daydate 36mm in gold News in 90 Seconds - Aug 8th Objecting to bail, the officer outlined his Li was stopped at Belfast International Airport after a scan of his bag revealed a large amount of cash. A search uncovered bundles of £20 notes from the Northern Bank, Danske Bank and Bank of Ireland, tied together with elastic bands and wrapped in plastic bags and the court heard there was a total of £38,000 seized. Initially, Li claimed he had flown here from Edinburgh with the intention to go to Lunn's jewellers to buy Rolex watches but when he arrived, the store was closed so having spent the night in an Airbnb, he was intending on taking a flight to Manchester. During formal interviews, he then claimed his parents had transferred him 200,000 Chinese Yuan and having put it together with Yuan he already had, he had come to Belfast to exchange it for Sterling. Li further claimed that 'he attended an address in Belfast' where he exchanged the Chinese money for the £38,000. He told police 'this was the third time he had attended that address' having apparently exchanged around £30,000 in the last month. Li alleged that he works for a 'number of bosses in London' and that he travels to Belfast to buy Rolex watches, to exchange cash and for his trouble, 'he gets commission.' The constable told the court however, 'police believe his bosses are members of an OCG and he is working on their behalf…he is working with them as a smaller part of the organisation.' Read more 'We believe that the defendant is likely to fail to surrender for bail,' said the officer, emphasising that he lives outside of NI, has no family ties to the UK and given the suspicions he has links to an OCG, 'he may have access to cash or property that would facilitate flight from the jurisdiction.' She added that if Li was to be released, that 'could have major implications' for the ongoing police investigation. Defence counsel Grant Powles said that according to the defendant, 'a friend told him that if he took this money to a lady at an address on Elm Street, he would get a better rate,' so having done that, he had stayed in an Airbnb before heading to the airport the following day. Li had given further instructions that company bosses had given him a virtual bank card to that he could make purchases, including Rolex watches. The court heard that to buy a Rolex from Lunn's, a customer needs to have an appointment but that Li had no such appointment. Mr Powles conceded that despite the defendant's initial claims, 'he was simply here to change the money, not to buy Rolex watches on this occasion.' With Liu claiming that he is a student at Durham university, Judge King highlighted that his registered address is in Newcastle, querying whether 'he travels every day or does he have accommodation for term time.' 'He says he is actually on a gap year,' Mr Powles told the judge. Responding with a sceptical, elongated 'yeeeahhhh,' Judge King declared: 'I am not granting bail in this case.' 'I have listened at some length to a fairly convoluted version of the events that brings you here and quite frankly, I find that incredible,' said the judge, adding that, 'I do not believe that I have a fraction of the truth as to how you found yourself at the airport with £38,000 in cash.' Refusing bail on the grounds of a risk of further offending and interference with the investigation, the judge remanded Li into custody and adjourned the case to 2 September.
RTÉ News
08-08-2025
- RTÉ News
Student found with £38k in bag at Belfast airport is remanded
A 23-year-old finance undergraduate at a leading UK university, who was stopped with £38,000 in a backpack at Belfast International Airport, has been remanded in custody. Ziang Li, a Chinese national, with an address at Sanderson Villas in Newcastle, England, was stopped by officers at check-in last night as he prepared to board a flight to Manchester. Inside the bag they found the cash wrapped in plastic bags, much of it in small denomination notes. Mr Li was arrested on suspicion of possessing the proceeds of crime. He appeared before Coleraine Magistrates Court this morning. The court heard that he was a finance student at Durham University. During interview, he initially told police he had travelled from Edinburgh with the money to buy a Rolex watch in a high-end Belfast jewellers. He said by the time he arrived in the city the shop was shut, so he stayed overnight before making his way back to the airport. He later allegedly changed his story to say that the money had been sent to him by his parents to pay his £22k a year tuition fees. He'd travelled to Belfast to change his Chinese currency into sterling because he'd been told he'd get a better rate. He went to a house off Belfast's Donegall Road where he was given the cash. A detective constable told the court she believed that Mr Li was working with a London-based Organised Crime Gang. She said they'd checked with the jewellers and had been told that Mr Li did not have an appointment to purchase a Rolex. Opposing bail, the detective constable said police were concerned Mr Li was a flight risk as he had no connections to Northern Ireland or Britain. A defence solicitor said his client had purchased Rolex watches on previous occasions and could provide receipts as proof of purchase. The solicitor said the watches were posted to London for onward sale and his client received a commission of around £500. The magistrate asked whether there was proof of address or of Mr Li's enrolment at Durham University. After taking instruction in the court, the solicitor said Mr Li was currently on a gap year. The court heard that he'd been in the UK for four years on a student visa. The magistrate said he'd heard a "convoluted version of events" that stretched his credulity. He said due to the "shifting sands of the story" and police concerns around bail, he would deny it. Mr Li was remanded in custody to appear again on 2 September.
