A man who spent more than $6 million and accidentally transferred it to his bank account has been sentenced to three years in prison.
Jatinder Singh, 39, deposited $100 into his then-partner Thevamangari Manivel’s account on the cryptocurrency website Crypto.com in May 2021.
The Indian was informed that his investment would be refunded due to a discrepancy in the account names.
But in what County Court Judge Martine Marich described as a significant accounting error, the employee making the refund typed a bank account number into the “Funds” box, transferring more than $10.4 million into Manivel’s bank account.
Singh told his partner to transfer the large sum of money from her Commonwealth Bank account to their joint bank account before the transaction could be reversed.
Singh was sentenced Tuesday to three years in prison for stealing $6 million, spent in a series of 160 transactions ranging from $5,000 to more than $1 million over 10 months.
When the cryptocurrency platform discovered the error – seven months later during an audit – they attempted to contact the two, along with the Commonwealth Bank, to get the money back.
The pair ignored the companies’ repeated attempts, convinced it was a scam.
Jatinder Singh (pictured at his previous court appearance) was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday
Singh’s former partner Thevamanogari Manivel was jailed for 209 days last year after she was arrested as she tried to board a one-way flight to Malaysia
By then they had already spent quite a bit of money, buying two properties and giving a million dollars to a friend.
Manivel made two separate transfers of $2 million to a bank account in Malaysia.
Another $1.2 million was used to purchase a luxury home in Craigieburn and a $56,000 deposit went towards a house in Mickleham.
Police allege Manivel showered her daughters with gifts, giving one daughter $500,000, another $430,000 and a third daughter $200,000.
Another $70,000 was used to buy a car for her daughter in Melbourne and $1.2 million was given to one of Singh’s friends to pay off his mortgage on a house in Mickleham.
The rest would have evaporated in furniture, art and other luxury items.
Singh was arrested in March 2022 and charged with theft. In an interview with police, he told police he believed the money came from “winning something” on the website Crypto.com.
Judge Marich noted in her ruling that Singh had cognitive problems, including an “extremely low” IQ, which prevented him from fully appreciating the consequences of his actions.
“Cognitive limitations and challenges in dealing with social rules weigh more heavily on you than on others,” she said.
She accepted a psychologist’s interpretation that Singh’s offending was an “opportunistic and poorly considered series of actions” related to a poor understanding of cryptocurrency trading, limitations in his problem-solving and his failure to consider potential consequences.
A difficult period in custody, during which he was also bullied on racial grounds, exacerbated his deteriorating mental health, with symptoms of anxiety and depression and suicidal thoughts.
The impact of media coverage of his crimes left him afraid to leave his home, as he feared his reputation would be damaged by the charges, Judge Marich told the court.
“(You were afraid) that others in the Punjab community would judge you and gossip about you and you were afraid that your parents would find out that you had misbehaved,” she said.
Indian national Jatinder Singh is eligible for parole after two years, having already served 361 days in prison.
One of the couple’s purchases was this $1.95 million home in Craigieburn
The judge said he had very good prospects for rehabilitation.
“I can safely say that the chances of this situation happening again are slim,” she said.
‘Since you were released on bail, you have not reoffended. You have no criminal record and you lead a pro-social life apart from these offences. That leads me to conclude that you are at low risk of reoffending.’
The judge acknowledged that a conviction based on his name would have implications for future visa applications.
The Indian national will be eligible for parole after two years, having already served 361 days in jail.
Singh’s former partner and co-defendant Manivel was sentenced to 209 days in prison in 2023 after she was arrested while trying to board a one-way flight to Malaysia.
Crypto.com has filed a civil lawsuit against Singh, but has declined to disclose how much money the company has been able to recover.
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