Jatinder Singh, an Australian man, found himself in hot water after receiving and squandering a huge sum of $6.8 million that was erroneously transferred to his account by Crypto.com.
AUSTRALIAN MAN FACES JAIL FOR $10M CRYPTO BLUNDERJatinder Singh mistakenly received $10.47 million from Crypto com and spent over $6 million on houses and land.Crypto com only discovered the error seven months later during an audit.Jatinder's lawyer argues for leniency,… pic.twitter.com/KeDvFASov2
— Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) August 4, 2024
In May 2021, a simple refund became a windfall for an Australian couple, Thevamanogari Manivel and Jatinder Singh. Due to an internal error, instead of receiving a 100 AU$ refund, the couple found themselves the unexpected recipients of 10.47 million Australian dollars ($6.86 million) from Crypto.com—a crypto platform operated by Foris DAX Asia, a Singapore-based company and subsidiary of Foris DAX MT (Malta) Limited, now with over 80 million users. Instead of reporting the error, Singh chose to spend the money. This decision has landed him in the crosshairs of Australian prosecutors, who are now seeking jail time for his actions.
User feigns ignorance
Believing he had won an online raffle; Singh went on a spending spree. He bought multiple homes, gifted a friend 1 million AU$, and even sent part of the money abroad. By the time Crypto.com discovered the error in its December 2021 internal audit, Singh had already spent a significant portion of the money.
Fast forward to August 2024, three years after the incident, and the case has landed in court. Australian prosecutor Campbell Thomson argued that given the amount of money involved, it was “out of range” to be considered a crime of opportunity. He stated that a jail sentence was necessary for Singh, saying, “It may not be that you send him to jail for very long at all after taking into account his presentence detention.”
Singh’s lawyer, Martin Kozlowski, argued that Singh didn’t fully grasp the seriousness of the unusual situation. “It must be taken into account the funds here came from a multinational that didn’t even know the funds were gone until an audit sometime later,” Kozlowski said.
Prosecutors Argue Singh is a Flight Risk
Back in March 2023, prosecutors made a strong case that Singh had a clear motive to skip town – only a fraction of the stolen money, $4.9 million, had been recovered, and some had already been spirited away abroad.
The case is set to conclude in September 2024, with Singh facing a potential jail sentence. His partner, Manivel, was given a roughly seven-month prison sentence (time already served) and placed on community corrections order for another year and a half after pleading guilty to squandering the proceeds of crime.
Today we released two new national risk assessments taking an in-depth look at the terrorism financing and money laundering threats and vulnerabilities in Australia. Read more: https://t.co/qRfqsI9mz3#amlctf #nationalriskassessment #fatf #moneylaundering #terrorismfinancing pic.twitter.com/XwgoeJsN2j
— AUSTRAC (@AUSTRAC) July 9, 2024
Australia has seen a surge in crypto-related crimes lately. Just a few weeks ago, on July 15, the country’s top financial intelligence agency, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) released a report highlighting a troubling trend that more and more criminals are using cryptocurrency and related services to launder their dirty money.
The post Australian Prosecutor Requests Jail Time for User Who Received and Squandered $6.8 Million in Erroneous Crypto.com Transfer appeared first on Coinfomania.