Australian prosecutors are pushing for a prison sentence for a Crypto.com user who received an unexpected windfall of nearly $7 million. The funds were sent in 2021, and much of the money was spent before the mistake was discovered.
What Happened?
Instead of returning 100 Australian dollars, Crypto.com mistakenly sent 10.47 million Australian dollars (about $6.86 million) to Thevamanogari Manivel and her partner Jatinder Singh in May 2021. The mistake was caused by an employee entering an account number into the payment section of an Excel spreadsheet. The exchange noticed the error months later during an internal audit in December 2021.
Singh had already spent a good bit of the money by the time Crypto.com discovered the issue. Thinking he had won an “online raffle,” he had bought multiple properties and gifted one million Australian dollars to a friend.
The exchange’s realization of this blunder resulted in a legal battle against the Australian couple.
Complexity of the Crypto.com User Case
During the most recent court hearing on August 2, prosecutor Campbell Thomson noted the gravity of the situation. Thomson argued that the amount of money involved was too big for the incident to be considered a mere crime of opportunity, and thus a jail sentence was warranted.
“It may not be that you send him to jail for very long at all after taking into account his presentence detention,” Thomson stated.
The prosecution has also raised concerns about Singh potentially fleeing the country. In March 2023, prosecutors argued that Singh might be financially motivated to escape, as only $4.9 million had been recovered, with some funds already sent abroad.
Defense Lawyer’s Point
On the other hand, Singh’s defense lawyer, Martin Kozlowski, presented a different perspective. Kozlowski contended that Singh did not fully understand the seriousness of the situation, which would have been challenging for anyone to comprehend.
Singh is scheduled to be sentenced in September. His partner, Manivel, has already faced a prison sentence of around seven months (time already served) in September 2023. She was placed on an 18-month community corrections order after pleading guilty to recklessly handling the proceeds of crime.
Growing Crypto Adoption in Australia
This high-profile case comes amid the increasing adoption of cryptocurrencies in Australia. According to a 2023 report by comparison site Finder, Australia had the third-largest rate of crypto adoption globally.
This growing interest in digital currencies has been further bolstered by regulatory developments. In June of this year, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) approved its first-ever spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), the VanEck Bitcoin ETF (VBTC).
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