Crypto.com mistakenly transfers $10.5M to a woman requesting for $100 refund

This is not the case for someone winning the lottery and making a fortune off of an unexpected invention. This is the tale of how, while a Melbourne, Australia, woman was requesting a $100 refund, Crypto.com mistakenly sent a staggering $10.5 million to her.

The issue wasn’t discovered by the exchange, though, until a company audit right before Christmas 2021. It was too late, though.

Crypto.com realized the mistake much later

Back in May 2021, when Crypto.com was seeking to handle a refund of just $100, the amount was sent to a person named Thevamanogari Manivel. Instead, someone typed the account number inadvertently in the payment section. The big cash was accidentally moved in May 2021, according to the court statement, and was found seven months later.

But some of the cash has already been spent. The $10.1 million was moved by Manivel into a joint account. The money was then moved from two accounts in February of this year to buy her sister a luxury $1.35 million five-bedroom property in Craigieburn.

After the Victoria Supreme Court judge ordered the sale of the opulent residence and the restitution of the proceeds to the company, a legal dispute supporting Crypto.com began. The judge would appoint a receiver to handle the sale if the homeowner neglected to list the property. If they disobey the directives, they can also be charged with contempt of court. The case will return to court in October this year. Justin Lawrence from Henderson and Ball Lawyers reportedly stated:

“There’s no doubt that if you saw that in your account you would know it shouldn’t be there, and the onus is actually on you to actually call the sender and to say look that shouldn’t have come into my account.”

Crypto.com has recently obtained the regulatory approval from the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to operate as a crypto business in the region.