- A year ago, Crypto.com unintentionally placed over $10 million into the Commonwealth Bank account.
- Seven months later, during an audit by Crypto.com, the mistake was found.
- Manivel was detained following her arrest for 209 days until October of last year.
Nearly a year ago, Crypto.com unintentionally placed over $10 million into the Commonwealth Bank account of the disability support worker, resulting in her arrest in March 2022.
Seven months later, during an audit by Crypto.com, the mistake was found. Manivel was given an 18-month community corrections term with six months of strict compliance and unpaid community service for irresponsibly dealing with the profits of crime.
$10 million to a worker
After exiting a coercive marriage, Manivel immigrated to Australia from Malaysia in 2015. Once she had settled and found work, she intended to move her three kids to the nation.
She held jobs as a disability care worker, a motel cleaner, a grocery cashier, and an irrigation worker on a cotton field. Jatinder Singh, who was interested in investing in cryptocurrencies, was someone she met in 2020.
Singh registered for a Crypto.com account but transferred funds to buy cryptocurrency using Manivel’s bank account. The bank account name did not coincide with the account name on Crypto.com, hence the payment was denied.
Last year, the Victorian County Court was informed that the employee from Bulgaria who handled the refund inadvertently typed the account number in the refund area of the Excel spreadsheet.
In January 2022, as the $4 million was being transferred abroad, The Commonwealth Bank called Manivel several times to get the money back.
When Manivel called the bank, she was informed that it was possibly a scam, and she later told police that she believed these communication efforts were scam attempts. She also disclosed to authorities Singh’s assertion that he had won the cash in a Crypto.com contest.
Manivel was detained following her arrest for 209 days until October of last year. The money had been recovered, and no nefarious intent had been established until the Commonwealth Bank alerted the judge of the error, according to Judge Martine Marich’s statements during the sentencing hearing.
