A 39-year-old cryptocurrency enthusiast who squandered millions in mistakenly transferred funds will reportedly spend three years in prison after pleading guilty in a court in Australia.
Local news site News.com.au reports that in 2021, Jatinder Singh attempted to deposit about $65 into his Crypto.com wallet using the Commonwealth Bank account of his then partner Thevamanogari Manivel.
The transfer was rejected because the names did not match, but when Crypto.com refunded Singh, the exchange sent $6.91 million because an employee accidentally typed Manivel’s bank account number instead of the $65 in the refund spreadsheet.
Singh then went on to spend money while Manivel transferred $2.64 million to her bank account in Malaysia.
Crypto.com discovered the error seven months later. Both the stock exchange and the Commonwealth Bank contacted Manivel, who said she believed these were scam attempts.
Manivel was arrested at Melbourne airport in 2022 when he tried to board a flight to Malaysia with more than $7,000 in cash. Singh, who was also arrested later the same month, said he thought he had won the money in an online competition.
Singh eventually told the court he knew the money was not his. He was convicted of theft for spending $4 million on property and luxury goods and gifting $660,000 to a friend.
On Tuesday he was sent to prison for 361 days of pre-trial detention. The period will be considered time served and will be deducted from his sentence. He will be eligible for parole after serving two years.
Manivel also pleaded guilty to recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime in September 2023. She was jailed for 209 days and given an 18-month community corrections order.
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