The $10.5m dilemma: How one woman spent big after a crypto cash transfer mistake
It’s the ultimate moral dilemma.
Millions of dollars are accidentally transferred into your account and no one seems to notice – so do you return the money? Or dive headfirst into your new, lavish lifestyle and set out on a spending spree?
For Thevamanogari Manivel, a 41-year-old Malaysian national living in Melbourne, it was the latter. But that decision is now coming back to haunt her.
On Friday, Manivel pleaded guilty to recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime after currency giant crypto.com mistakenly deposited $10.5 million into her Commonwealth Bank account, instead of a $100 refund, 7 News reports.
Instead of returning the money, Manivel and her partner splurged on multiple houses and luxury items including a car for one of her three children, furniture and art. She also paid off a friend’s mortgage.
The court heard the crypto company – which paid Hollywood star Matt Damon to feature in a Super Bowl commercial with the slogan “fortune favours the brave” – had accidentally entered an account number in the payment field when it should instead have entered a measly $100 refund in May 2021.
“Extraordinarily, the Plaintiffs allegedly did not realise this significant error until some seven months later, in late December 2021,” Supreme Court judge James Dudley Elliott found.
The mistake had only been discovered after a company audit two days before Christmas.
But by the time crypto.com – one of world’s largest cryptocurrency trading platforms – realised what had happened, a big chunk of it had already been spent.
Manivel told the court that her boyfriend had convinced her it was a prize from crypto.com.
The company contacted the Commonwealth Bank, which contacted Manivel on two occasions in January 2022 to discuss the matter. She later told police she believed both messages were scam calls, The Age reports.
“Immediately following the communication from the Commonwealth Bank, Manivel transferred $2 million to an account in Malaysia with HSBC Bank, in her name,” Prosecutor Bruce Nibbs told the court.
Later that month, she transferred another $2 million to her overseas account. Six weeks later, police arrested her at Melbourne Airport trying to flee to Malaysia with $11,750.
The County Court heard Manivel had since returned more than $8 million and settled with the crypto company.
Manivel’s barrister, Jessica Willard, said her client had no criminal record and an otherwise unblemished personal history.
Her co-accused and former partner Jatinder Singh will appear in court on other charges next week. He has pleaded not guilty.
Manivel will be sentenced in September.