Australian prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence for a Crypto.com user who mistakenly received nearly $7 million and spent most of it before the exchange discovered the error. The case highlights the legal and ethical implications of accidental financial windfalls.
Points
- Australian prosecutors call for prison for Crypto.com user who received $6.8 million by mistake.
- The error occurred in May 2021 due to an internal mistake at Crypto.com.
- The recipient spent most of the money before the error was discovered.
- The prosecutor argues that the amount involved makes it a serious crime.
- The defense claims the user did not fully understand the situation’s seriousness.
Australian prosecutors are advocating for a prison sentence for Thevamanogari Manivel and Jatinder Singh, a couple who received nearly $7 million from Crypto.com due to an internal error. The mistake occurred in May 2021 when an employee entered an account number in the payment section of an Excel spreadsheet instead of a refund amount of 100 Australian dollars.
By the time Crypto.com discovered the error during a December 2021 internal audit, Singh had already spent a significant portion of the funds, including purchasing multiple homes and gifting $1 million to a friend. Singh claimed he believed he had won an online raffle.
In an August 2 court hearing, prosecutor Campbell Thomson argued that the substantial amount of money involved made the incident too serious to be considered a simple crime of opportunity. Thomson asserted that a jail sentence was necessary to reflect the severity of the offense. He noted that “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 his client did not fully comprehend the gravity of the situation, which could have confused anyone. Kozlowski emphasized that the funds came from a multinational company that did not realize the money was missing until months later. He argued, “Nobody knows how they would respond if faced by the same situation.”
Concerns about Singh being a flight risk were raised in March 2023, with prosecutors arguing that he was financially motivated to flee the country, as only $4.9 million had been recovered, and some funds had already been sent abroad. Singh’s sentencing is scheduled for September. In September 2023, his partner, Manivel, received a roughly seven-month prison sentence （time already served） and was placed on
an 18-month community corrections order after pleading guilty to recklessly handling the proceeds of crime.
解説
- The Crypto.com incident highlights the complexities of handling significant financial errors.
- Prosecutors argue the severity of the crime due to the substantial amount involved.
- Defense claims the accused did not fully understand the situation’s seriousness.
- Legal and ethical implications of such financial windfalls are significant.
- Singh’s case underscores the importance of internal controls within financial institutions to prevent similar errors.