- A Crypto.com user received nearly $7 million by mistake in May 2021, instead of a $100 refund, due to an internal error
- Prosecutors argue for jail time for the user, citing the large sum involved and the impact of the mistake. The user’s lawyer claims they didn’t fully grasp the situation’s seriousness
- This case highlights a broader increase in crypto-related crimes in Australia, with recent reports showing a rise in criminal use of cryptocurrencies
Prosecutors in Australia are pushing for jail time for a Crypto.com user who mistakenly received nearly $7 million and spent most of it before the exchange discovered the internal error three years ago.
The incident, which took place in May 2021, has brought up a number of legal and moral issues as the justice system tries to make sense of the unusual situation.
Prosecutor Argues for Jail Time
In May 2021, Crypto.com accidentally sent AUD 10.47 million ($6.86 million) to the Australian couple Thevamanogari Manivel and Jatinder Singh instead of a AUD 100 refund. This error occurred because an employee entered an account number into the wrong section of an Excel spreadsheet.
By the time the exchange discovered the mistake in its internal audit in December 2021, just seven months later, Singh had already bought several houses and gifted AUD 1 million to a friend. He claimed he thought he’d won “an online lottery.”
At the latest hearing on August 2, around three years after the incident, Australian prosecutor Campbell Thomson said that, given the amount of money involved, it was “impossible to call it an opportunistic crime.”
According to an August 2 report, Thomson said that a prison sentence for Singh was necessary. “It’s possible you might not send him to prison for a long time, after considering his pre-trial detention,” he said.
Meanwhile, Singh’s lawyer, Martin Kozlowski, argued that Singh didn’t fully grasp the gravity of the unusual situation, which would be a challenge for anyone.
“You have to take into account that the funds came from a multinational that didn’t realize it had lost them until an audit was done,” Kozlowski explained. “No one knows how they’d react if they found themselves in the same situation,” he added.
Concerns About Singh’s Flight Risk
In March 2023, prosecutors said that Singh was probably trying to avoid being found guilty since only $4.9 million had been recovered, with some already sent abroad. Singh’s sentencing is set for September.
Manivel, Singh’s partner, was sentenced to about seven months in prison (which she’s already served) and 18 months of community correction after pleading guilty to mishandling the crime proceeds.
The news comes after there’s been a recent increase in crypto-related crimes in Australia. On July 15, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) Money Laundering National Risk Assessment reported that there’s been an increase in criminal use of crypto and related services in its latest money laundering report. AUSTRAC has predicted that there will be a surge in criminal use of cryptocurrencies due to greater anonymity and transaction speed.
Conclusion
To sum up, the mix-up of millions of dollars by Crypto.com has led to a pretty intense legal battle. As prosecutors push for jail time for the involved user, it’s becoming clearer that crypto-related crimes are on the rise in Australia.
The upcoming sentencing in September could be a big moment for regulating these complex cases.
