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Australian prosecutors are reportedly seeking a prison sentence for a Crypto.com user who mistakenly received nearly $7 million and spent most of it before the exchange discovered the internal error made three years ago. In May 2021, Crypto.com sent $6.86 million instead of a $100 refund to Australian couple Thevamanogari Manivel and Jatinder Singh after an employee allegedly entered an account number into the payment section of an Excel spreadsheet.
Notable Court Decision in Australia
Following this process, the exchange found that the bank account did not match the exchange account. Therefore, a refund was made, but instead of refunding the $100 Australian dollars the couple tried to deposit, the exchange mistakenly sent $10.5 million Australian dollars to Manivel’s bank account. When the exchange discovered the error during an internal audit in December 2021, just seven months later, Singh had already purchased multiple homes and gifted $1 million Australian dollars to a friend.
Nearly three years after the incident, at the latest court hearing on August 2, Australian prosecutor Campbell Thomson argued that the amount of money in question was too significant to be considered an opportunistic crime. According to a report dated August 2, he stated that a prison sentence for Singh was necessary:
“Considering the time already spent in custody, it may not be a very long sentence.”
Meanwhile, Singh’s lawyer Martin Kozlowski argued that Singh did not fully grasp the seriousness of the unusual situation and that it would be a challenge for anyone:
“It should be considered that the funds came from a multinational company that didn’t even know the funds were gone until a later audit. No one knows how they would react if faced with the same situation.”
Details on the Case
In March 2023, prosecutors argued that Singh was financially motivated to flee the country as only $4.9 million was recovered, with some of it sent overseas. Singh is scheduled to be sentenced next month. In September 2023, his partner Manivel was sentenced to approximately seven months in prison and subjected to an 18-month community correction order after being found guilty of recklessly handling proceeds of crime.
This comes after a recent increase in reported crypto crimes in Australia. On July 15, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) reported in its latest National Risk Assessment on Money Laundering that the criminal use of crypto and related services has increased. AUSTRAC predicted a rise in the criminal use of cryptocurrencies due to greater anonymity and faster transactions.
