An Australian man has now been sentenced to jail after finding himself millions of dollars richer following an accidental refund from Crypto.com—the 13th largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
According to the report, the Australian man named Jatinder Singh, aged 39, and his “then-partner” Thevamanogari Manivel, 41, were sent roughly $10.47 million by Crypto.com due to a clerical error involving an Excel spreadsheet mistake by a Bulgarian-based employee.
As reported by local news media, this mishap happened when the employee mistakenly typed Singh’s bank account number as the amount to be refunded, leading to an enormous deposit into their account.
The Start And The Bust
This—error leading to an unintended fortune—story began when Singh attempted a modest $100 deposit into his Crypto.com account using Thevamanogari Manivel’s bank account, which was initially rejected due to mismatched account names.
Following that, the Bulgarian-based employee, as reported, “accidentally typed Manivel’s account number into an Excel document instead of what should have been a $100 refund.”
After this occurrence, Manivel’s bank account was credited $10.47 million. Upon receiving this, Singh told his partner Manivel to transfer the accidentally refunded funds to a joint account “to avoid it being clawed back.”
Singh and Manivel then embarked on an “extravagant spending spree,” misappropriating millions on properties, luxury items, and large transfers to foreign accounts.
Legal intervention abruptly halted their lavish lifestyle even though it took Crypto.com seven months to realize the blunder during an internal audit.
The Legal Repercussions
Following the bust from the authorities, Singh was eventually arrested and charged with theft after spending $6.07 million of the misplaced funds. He was sentenced to three years in prison, reflecting the severity of his actions despite his initial claim of believing the money was a “prize from an online competition.”
Manivel also faced legal action but was sentenced to time served and an 18-month community corrections order after admitting to recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime.
The court’s response highlighted the lack of insight Singh had into his wrongdoing. The Judge in charge, Marich from Victorian County Court, commented on the case, stating:
Your offending was precipitated by the most extraordinary of circumstances. You had no legal claim of right to the money and you were at least reckless.
The report concluded by noting:
Crypto.com, the court was told, had launched legal action to seize assets but had refused to tell prosecutors how much of the money had been recovered.
Featured image created with DALL-E Chart from TradingView