Cryptocurrency Platform, Crypto.com, Wins Court Case after Unintentional Transfer of $10.5 Million
Oops! Crypto.com Mistake Makes Someone Rich
Got a cool $10.5 million surprise? Well, that's exactly what happened to an Aussie woman named Thevamanogari Manivel from Melbourne, when popular cryptocurrency trading platform, Crypto.com, inadvertently transferred a fortune due to a clerical error back in May 2021.
In a strange turn of events, while trying to issue a $100 refund, the platform accidentally transferred $10.5 million instead. Crypto.com didn't discover their boo-boo till seven long months later, during an audit.
When they realized their billion-dollar blunder, the trading giants wasted no time in launching legal action in the Victorian Supreme Court to get their money back. The case kicked off in February this year, following some inquiries with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and seeking freezing orders for Manivel's bank account and assets to match the size of the wrongful payment.
Immediately after receiving the windfall, Manivel wasted no time. She transferred $10.1 million to a joint account and by the end of January this year, moved $430,000 from the joint account to her daughter Raveena Vijian.
Not content with just that, Manivel used funds from both the joint account and her daughter's account to buy a swanky $1.35 million four-bedroom property in Cragieburn, Melbourne's north, as a gift for her sister Thilagavathy Gangadory, a resident of Malaysia.
Crypto.com's solicitors, however, proved a persistent lot. Despite several failed attempts to serve Gangadory, they turned to an email from Manivel's solicitors as proof that she was indeed served. With this, the Victorian Supreme Court ordered the sale of the Cragieburn property, with the proceeds going to Crypto.com.
The court also decreed that Gangadory should cough up the legal costs for the case, as well as interest from March 2022 until the ruling date, amounting to a whopping $27,369.64. Talk about a hard lesson to learn!
All this drama got you curious about such cases? Well, in Australia, a mistaken transfer and the subsequent recovery attempts usually unfold like this:
- The receiver is served a demand for repayment, with possible negotiation or mediation if necessary.
- If the funds are not returned, legal proceedings are initiated under unjust enrichment or restitution claims.
- If the funds were used to purchase tangible assets, such assets may be seized through court orders to recover the money.
- In a similar instance in the Melbourne-based finance industry, a man named Manivel, working within the burgeoning fintech sector, unwittingly received a colossal sum of $10.5 million from a cryptocurrency trading platform, Crypto.com, as a result of a mistaken refund.
- Subsequently, Crypto.com, a major player in the banking-and-insurance and cryptocurrency industry, took legal action to retrieve the mistakenly transferred funds in the Victorian Supreme Court, under unjust enrichment or restitution claims.
- Despite the legal proceedings, Manivel used the funds to make significant financial decisions, such as purchasing a property and transferring money to his family members.
- In a twist of events, the court ordered the sale of the purchased property and mandated Manivel's sister to cover the legal costs and accrued interests, serving as a reminder for all parties involved in the banking-and-insurance and fintech industry to prioritize due diligence in financial transactions.
