A Melbourne couple is set to stand trial in October on Crypto theft charges after spending a substantial sum of money they received by mistake in 2021. The couple, Thevamanogari Manivel and Jatinder Singh, mistakenly received 10.5 million Australian dollars (AUD), approximately $6.6 million, in their bank account. This inadvertent windfall has since led to legal proceedings and a complex legal battle.
Costly banking error unveiled
In May 2021, Thevamanogari Manivel initiated a fund transfer to her partner Jatinder Singh’s Crypto.com account. However, what should have been a straightforward transaction quickly took a puzzling turn when the exchange detected a discrepancy between the bank account details and the exchange account.
Consequently, Crypto.com processed a refund, intending to return the original sum of 100 AUD that the couple had attempted to deposit. Unfortunately, a significant error occurred during this process, resulting in the transfer of an astonishing 10.5 million AUD into Manivel’s bank account.
The error remained undiscovered until December 2021 when Crypto.com conducted its annual audit, unveiling the gravity of the situation. Subsequently, the exchange filed a lawsuit in the Victoria Supreme Court to retrieve the erroneously transferred funds.
By the time the mistake was identified, Manivel and Singh had reportedly embarked on a lavish spending spree. The couple allegedly purchased multiple properties, vehicles, and a myriad of high-value items. Moreover, they transferred approximately 4 million AUD to a Malaysian bank account. One of the most notable acquisitions was a five-bedroom property in Craigieburn, valued at 1.35 million AUD, which the court ordered to be sold with the proceeds to be returned to the crypto trading platform.
Claim of a crypto prize disputed
In October 2022, during court proceedings, the couple asserted that they believed they had received a significant prize from the crypto exchange. Singh claimed to have received a notification from the company about a competition, which he believed explained the substantial influx of funds into their account. However, this claim faced resistance from Crypto.com’s compliance officer, Michi Chan Fores. Fores unequivocally denied the existence of any such competition and clarified that the exchange did not send notifications of this nature to its users.
Manivel, who had been charged with theft, recently pleaded guilty to recklessly dealing with the proceeds of a crime in September 2023. As a result of her plea, she has been sentenced to an 18-month community corrections order, encompassing six months of intensive compliance and unpaid community work. It’s worth noting that Manivel had already spent 209 days in custody prior to her sentencing.
In contrast, Singh is now the remaining party set to face a plea trial scheduled for October 23. The outcome of this trial will determine his legal fate in connection to the accidental windfall.
