A couple who pocketed $10.4 million that was mistakenly transferred to an account in a Crypto.com bungle allegedly went on a multi-million dollar spending spree.
Jatinder Singh waved and mouthed the words ‘I love you’ to his partner Thevamanogari Manivel, 40, whom police allege along with him stole the millions mistakenly transferred into her account in a Crypto.com error.
Both appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday via videolink from separate prison cells.
The pair face up to 20 years behind bars each if found guilty of stealing the money from the Commonwealth Bank, where Crypto.com transferred the cash by mistake.
The court heard $2million in cash remains missing plus a further $1million in assets.
Jatinder Singh had been trading in cryprocurrency when a mistake saw $10.4million transferred into his partner’s account
Thevamanogari Manivel in Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 27, 2022
Crypto.com mistakenly transferred almost $10.4million to Thevamanogari Manivel
Detective Senior Constable Conor Healy said Manivel – a Malaysian national in Australia on a student visa and working in disability support- had been picked up at Melbourne Airport loaded with luggage, wads of cash and a one way ticket to Malaysia.
She had earlier transferred $4million to a HSBC bank account in Malaysia, $2million of which was later returned, but the other $2million was quickly transferred to unknown accounts, the detective said.
The court heard four houses had been purchased with the ill-gotten cash – all of which had been frozen by the Supreme Court as part of ongoing civil action launched there by Crypto.com.
Senior Constable Healy alleged $8million had been transferred from Manivel’s account between December 24 last year and February.
Of that, $1.2million was used to buy a luxury home in Craigieburn and a $56,000 deposit went on a home in Mickleham.
Police allege Manivel lavished gifts on her daughters, giving $500,000 to one, $430,000 to another and $200,000 to a third daughter.
Another $70,000 was used to buy her daughter in Melbourne a car and $1.2million gifted to one of Singh’s mates to pay off his mortgage on a Mickleham property.
The rest was allegedly blown on furniture, art and other luxury items.
The dream home was surrounded by weeds and appeared abandoned earlier this month
The court heard Singh had been a regular trader of cryptocurrency, using his debit card to amass $49,000 in his Crypto.com wallet.
The $10,474,143 mistake was only discovered by Crypto.com in a company audit just before last Christmas.
The court heard the company had attempted to issue a $100 refund into Manivel’s account after Singh had used it to conduct more trades.
A Crypto.com manager told the court it was unusual for a trader not to use his own account, which prompted the refund when Singh failed to confirm he intended to use his partner’s account.
A Melbourne company contracted to Crypto.com made the mistake when an employee working out of Bulgaria accidentally copied and pasted the account number of her previous job into the refund amount headed back to Manivel’s account.
Police allege the money was moved out of Manivel’s account into a joint account with Singh within hours of it being discovered by the couple.
When the mistake was picked-up near on a year later, Singh claimed to police he believed he had ‘won’ the money in a ‘Crypto.com contest’.
The court heard Manivel claimed she was duped by Singh into believing the money was her’s to deal with as she pleased.
While Singh made no application for bail on Tuesday, Manivel was allowed to move back in with her daughter despite police fears she might disappear.
Her brother – a mechanic – handed over a $10,000 surety to secure her freedom.
Thilagavathy Gangadory – the sister of Thevamanogari Manivel – allegedly received this home off the back of a massive Crypto.com mistake
Both have pleaded not guilty to the charges and will front the County Court of Victoria next month.
At an earlier hearing, Manivel’s barrister, Jessica Willard, told the court her client did not know the money might have been stolen.
‘The whole issue in relation to Ms Manivel is the dishonesty element – whether she knew that the money was stolen or not,’ Ms Willard said.
The court heard Manivel had insisted upon her version of events upon her arrest in March, telling police her co-accused had ‘won the money’.
Singh had claimed similar when detectives eventually knocked on his door.
‘That’s also what he says in his record of interview,’ Ms Willard said.
Representatives from the Commonwealth Bank allege the couple had been well informed that the money had been transferred by mistake.
The view earlier last month outside the million-dollar property Crypto bought
What is known about the case stems largely from civil action launched by Crypto.com, which has used mega stars such as Matt Damon to advertise, and reportedly splashed $25m on AFL and AFLW sponsorship deals.
Barristers acting for the company have served paperwork with the Supreme Court of Victoria in an effort to get its money back from Manivel.
In a further twist, Manivel’s sister Thilagavathy Gangadory is included in the Supreme Court civil suite.
Documents state when Crypto.com tried to get its money back from Manivel, $1.35million had already been spent on a luxury house and the rest had been moved to other accounts.
The house registration had been transferred to the Malaysia-based Ms Gangadory before Crypto.com was able to take out freezing orders against her in March.
Despite Ms Gangadory’s inclusion in the civil suit, it is understood police have not laid any criminal charges against her.
Weeds take root in the home bought by proceeds from a crypto bungle
A child’s ride-on toy lays abandoned among the weeds of the home Crypto bought
Littered with long, ugly weeds, the ‘Crypto house’ showed the telltale signs of neglect earlier this month when visited by Daily Mail Australia.
Crypto currency had been enduring a rapid decline during the month of May last year when the error happened.
The Craigieburn home, which has four bathrooms, a home gym and cinema, was bought on February 3, the Herald Sun reported at the time.
Four days later, Crypto.com made freezing orders against Manivel’s bank account, but court documents show $10.1m had already been moved to a different joint account and $430,000 had been transferred to her daughter.
The company subsequently took legal action in the Supreme Court seeking to get back the cost of the house plus 10 per cent interest.
The action was successful by default as neither Ms Gangadory nor her legal representatives attended the court or lodged a defence.
Justice James Dudley Elliott ordered Ms Gangadory pay Crypto.com $1.35million, interest of $27,369 and costs, and that the Craigieburn house be sold.
‘It is established that the Craigieburn property was acquired with funds traceable to the wrongful payment and would never have been in Gangadory’s hands if the wrongful payment had not been made,” Mr Elliott said as he handed down his judgment.
Thevamanogari Manivel reportedly bought a luxury house (pictured) in the Melbourne suburb of Craigieburn after mistakenly receiving a bank transfer of $10,474,143
‘Thus, Gangadory was unjustly enriched by receiving the purchase price of the Craigieburn property out of the wrongful payment.
‘Accordingly, I was satisfied that the orders relating to the sale of the Craigieburn property were appropriate.’
The Victorian Supreme Court’s commercial division heard the case in May, but Justice Elliott’s judgment was only made available last month.
Because Ms Gangadory was not represented in court, Justice Elliott wrote that ‘references to the facts of this case based on such uncontested evidence are necessarily open to challenge if Gangadory ever seeks to set aside the default judgment’.
The judge added that she ‘has not responded to any of the correspondence from (Crypto.com’s) solicitors’ and that ‘the effect of not filing an appearance is that the allegations in the statement of claim are taken to be admitted’.
Separate orders have reportedly been made regarding the rest of the money transferred to Manivel.
Crypto.com’s lawyers, Cornwalls Law, told Daily Mail Australia that as the matter is before the courts, it was unable to comment.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Daily Mail
