An Australian man has been sentenced to prison after unexpectedly receiving millions of dollars due to an error by Crypto.com, the 13th largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume.
The mistake occurred when Jatinder Singh, 39, and his former partner, Thevamanogari Manivel, 41, were accidentally credited with approximately $10.47 million. This error resulted from a clerical mistake by a Bulgarian employee who misentered Singh’s bank account number as the refund amount in an Excel spreadsheet.
The incident began when Singh attempted to deposit $100 into his Crypto.com account using Manivel’s bank account, but the transaction was rejected due to a mismatch in account names. Subsequently, the employee mistakenly entered Manivel’s account number in an Excel document, leading to the massive deposit.
Upon realising the unexpected windfall, Singh instructed Manivel to transfer the funds to a joint account to prevent Crypto.com from reclaiming the money. The pair then went on a lavish spending spree, using the funds to purchase properties, luxury goods, and making large transfers to foreign accounts.
Their extravagant lifestyle was cut short when Crypto.com discovered the error seven months later during an internal audit, prompting legal action.
Singh was arrested and charged with theft after spending $6.07 million of the funds. He received a three-year prison sentence, despite initially claiming he thought the money was a prize from an online competition. Manivel also faced charges but was sentenced to time served and given an 18-month community corrections order after admitting to recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime.
The court emphasised Singh’s lack of awareness of his wrongdoing, with Judge Marich from the Victorian County Court stating that Singh had no legal right to the money and acted recklessly. Crypto.com has initiated legal proceedings to recover assets but has not disclosed how much of the money has been recovered.
