The wife secretly installed a hidden camera to record the mnemonic phrase and directly transferred 2,323 BTC.
Written by: Mahe, Foresight News
If this story were made into a TV series, it would definitely be a highly controversial and melodramatic family suspense film at the beginning of 2026—the protagonist is not an ordinary person, but Huo Liaosen, a well-known financial KOL in Hong Kong back then, whose real name is Yuan Binghui, and who was once hailed as the "young stock god".
He made his fortune in the early years by speculating in stocks and Bitcoin. His radio program "Spark" was once very popular among Hong Kong people. He also published an investment book called "I Borrowed My First Ten Million from Buffett".
However, no one expected that the recent lawsuit would reveal the most dramatic family farce.
The person next to you secretly filmed your mnemonic phrase and stole your BTC.
In 2023, Huo Liaosen's divorce case went to the High Court of England. He accused his wife, Li Huanrong, who was in the process of separating from him, of colluding with her sisters to secretly install hidden cameras in their Brighton mansion in England. The cameras recorded the entire process of him entering his cold wallet PIN and mnemonic phrase, and directly transferred 2,323 BTC.
The case has recently sparked heated discussions among netizens in Hong Kong and other regions after being reported in Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily, Hong Kong Economic Journal, and the UK's Daily Mail and The Times.
The incident dates back to 2023. At that time, Huo Liaosen and Li Huanrong were going through a divorce. In early July, the trigger for the incident was their eldest daughter. She privately told Huo Liaosen that her mother might be eyeing Bitcoin.
Huo Liaosen immediately became alert. Instead of confronting them directly, he secretly installed recording equipment at home in an attempt to gather evidence.
According to court documents, the conversation between Li Huanrong and her sister was recorded verbatim. Li Huanrong said, "The Bitcoin has been transferred to me, but won't people find out that you took it?"
A more crucial and accusatory exchange: "It's fine, take them all."
The two also discussed the risks of money laundering, using a second wallet, and whether they would be targeted by the police... These conversations later became key evidence in court.
Huo Liaosen's testimony to the court clearly stated that Li Huanrong secretly installed hidden cameras in the mansion to film him operating the Trezor cold wallet.
That cold wallet wasn't connected to the internet; it was protected by a 6-digit PIN code, and its core feature was a 24-word mnemonic phrase. Anyone with the mnemonic phrase could restore the entire wallet using a different device, and the money would instantly change hands.
Later, the 2323 BTC did indeed move—they were transferred in batches to 71 different addresses and haven't been touched since. Huo Liaosen was dissatisfied with this and confronted Li Huanrong directly, resulting in his own arrest. He pleaded guilty to one count of actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault. He immediately reported the incident to the police, accusing Li Huanrong of stealing the cryptocurrency. In December, Li Huanrong was arrested by British police and released on bail. During the search, police found 10 cold wallets, 5 sets of mnemonic phrases, and several luxury watches on her person, some of which were confirmed to be Huo Liaosen's property. However, at the time, the police said there was no new evidence and did not investigate further.
As of March 2026, the case had been formally transferred to the High Court of England and Wales. Presiding Judge Cotter, after reviewing the transcripts of the audio recordings, stated that the plaintiff's evidence was "devastating" and that their chances of winning were extremely high. Given the highly volatile nature of cryptocurrency prices, the judge specifically granted a global freeze order to ensure the value of the assets through an early hearing. Although the defendant, Li Huanrong, vehemently denied any knowledge of the asset transfer through an affidavit, the court ruled to allow the civil proceedings to continue.
Huo Liaosen's rise to power and his history of controversy
However, behind Huo Liaosen's career achievements are also many negative controversies.
He graduated from the Accounting Department of Hong Kong Polytechnic University in 2003. In his early years, he worked as a commentator for RTHK and financial magazines. He became famous for his accurate market predictions before and after the 2007-2008 financial crisis (such as his bearish view on the property market and his bullish view on gold/yen, etc.), and was known as the "young stock market god". He accumulated his initial capital through publishing several best-selling investment books, hosting financial programs, and personal stock investment.
He then invested in Bitcoin, which brought his wealth to a new level.
In his testimony before the UK High Court, Huo Liaosen stated that he began purchasing and holding large amounts of Bitcoin as early as 2010 to 2013 (when the price of Bitcoin ranged from a few dollars to hundreds of dollars).
The 2,323 Bitcoin Hodl coins, if valued at $100,000 each, would be worth $232.3 million. At their current value of $70,000 each, they would be worth approximately $163 million.
However, in 2017-2018, some people complained that he had lost money on investments in the virtual currency vending machines he promoted.
According to multiple media reports, Huo Liaosen heavily promoted a cryptocurrency called HE15 on its social media platforms and in its lectures. Investors were required to pay approximately HK$20,000 to HK$30,000 to purchase a so-called "cloud mining machine." This machine did not need to be moved home; it was operated by a hosting center, generated virtual currency daily, and could be exchanged for BTC or ETH on Huo Liaosen's affiliated trading platforms.
Starting in mid-2018, the price of HE15 cryptocurrency plummeted, and redemption channels were disrupted, leaving investors unable to withdraw their assets or with their value virtually zero. Some investors even discovered that the so-called "high-performance mining rigs" actually had extremely low hardware configurations and were priced far above their market value.
In early 2019, more than 100 victims sought help from the Hong Kong Democratic Party and reported the case to the police. The total amount involved was estimated to be at least HK$20 million.
In April 2019, the Hong Kong Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) took action and arrested several people from related companies on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud.
Huo Liaosen was initially identified as a KOL for the project, but he subsequently moved to the UK.
