Australian prosecutors are seeking a prison sentence for Jatinder Singh, a Crypto.com user who received nearly $7 million due to an internal error and spent most of it before the mistake was discovered. In May 2021, an employee allegedly entered an account number into the payment section of an Excel spreadsheet, resulting in a transfer of 10.47 million Australian dollars ($6.86 million) instead of a $100 refund.
By the time Crypto.com identified the error in a December 2021 audit, Singh had already purchased multiple properties and gifted a friend 1 million AU$, thinking he had won “an online raffle.” Prosecutor Campbell Thomson argued that the large sum involved meant the case couldn’t be seen as merely a crime of opportunity and that a jail sentence was necessary, even if brief.
“It may not be that you send him to jail for very long at all after taking into account his presentence detention,” Thomson said.
Singh’s lawyer, Martin Kozlowski, argued that Singh didn’t fully comprehend the situation’s gravity, which would have been difficult for anyone. He emphasized that the funds came from a multinational company that didn’t notice the mistake for several months.
“It must be taken into account the funds here came from a multinational that didn’t even know the funds were gone until an audit sometime later,” Kozlowski said. “Nobody knows how they would respond if faced by the same situation.”
Prosecutors also raised concerns about Singh being a flight risk, as only $4.9 million has been recovered, with some of the money sent overseas. Singh is scheduled to be sentenced in September. His partner, Thevamanogari Manivel, received a roughly seven-month prison sentence (time already served) and an 18-month community corrections order after pleading guilty to recklessly handling crime proceeds.
This incident highlights a broader trend of increasing crypto-related crimes in Australia. On July 15, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) reported a rise in criminal use of cryptocurrency, citing greater anonymity and faster transaction speeds as key factors.
